Key Points
- Wagner fighters have reportedly crossed the border from Ukraine into Russia.
- Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said he and his men would destroy anyone who stood in their way.
- He was earlier accused by Moscow of armed mutiny.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has described "armed mutiny" by the Wagner Group mercenary force as treason, and that anyone who had taken up arms against the Russian military would be punished.
In an emergency TV address on, Mr Putin said any internal mutiny was a "serious threat to Russia", and said anybody involved was a "traitor".
"We are fighting for life and security of our people," he said.
"What we're seeing is a stab in the back".
The president said he would do everything to protect Russia, and that "decisive action" would be taken to stabilise the situation in Rostov-on-Don, a southern city where Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces had taken control of all military installations.
Mr Putin said the rebels would be punished.
"All those who prepared the rebellion will suffer inevitable punishment. The armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders," he said.
He urged "those who are being dragged into this crime not to make a fatal and tragic, unique mistake, to make the only right choice - to stop participating in criminal acts."
Mr Putin condemned the rebellion at a time when Russia was "fighting the toughest battle for its future" with its war in Ukraine.
"The entire military, economic and information machine of the West is waged against us," he said.
"This battle, when the fate of our people is being decided, requires the unification of all forces, unity, consolidation and responsibility."
An armed rebellion at a time like this is "a blow to Russia, to its people," the president said.
"Those who plotted and organised an armed rebellion, who raised arms against his comrades-in-arms, betrayed Russia. And they will answer for it."
Wagner boss denies coup
Mr Prigozhin demanded that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff whom he has pledged to oust over what he says is their disastrous leadership of the war against Ukraine, come to see him in Rostov, a city near the Ukrainian border.
He had earlier said that he had 25,000 fighters moving towards Moscow to "restore justice" and had alleged, without providing evidence, that the military had killed a huge number of fighters from his Wagner private militia in an air strike, something Russia's defence ministry denied.
"Those who destroyed our lads, who destroyed the lives of many tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, will be punished. I ask that no one offer resistance...," Mr Prigozhin said in one of many frenzied audio messages.
"There are 25,000 of us and we are going to figure out why chaos is happening in the country," he said, promising to destroy any checkpoints or air forces that got in Wagner's way.
He also said his actions were not a military coup.
Mr Prigozhin, whose Wagner militia spearheaded the capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut last month, has for months been openly accusing Mr Shoigu and Mr Gerasimov of incompetence and of denying Wagner ammunition and support in its battles in Ukraine.
The dramatic turn, with many details unclear, looked like the biggest domestic crisis Mr Putin has faced since he ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine - something he called a "special military operation" - in February last year.
Russia's FSB security had earlier opened a criminal case against Mr Prigozhin for armed mutiny and had said that his statements were "calls for the start of an armed civil conflict on Russian territory and his actions a 'stab in the back' of Russian servicemen fighting pro-fascist Ukrainian forces".
It added: "We urge the ... fighters not to make irreparable mistakes, to stop any forcible actions against the Russian people, not to carry out the criminal and traitorous orders of Prigozhin, to take measures to detain him."
The state news agency TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that all of Russia's main security services were reporting to Mr Putin "round the clock".
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Security was being tightened in Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his Telegram channel.
In Washington, US President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation, a White House spokesperson said.
On Friday, Mr Prigozhin had appeared to cross a new line in his increasingly vitriolic feud with the ministry, saying Mr Putin's stated rationale for invading Ukraine 16 months ago was based on lies concocted by the army's top brass.
"The war was needed ... so that Shoigu could become a marshal ... so that he could get a second 'Hero' (of Russia) medal," Mr Prigozhin said in a video clip.
"The war wasn't needed to demilitarise or denazify Ukraine," he said, referring to Mr Putin's justifications for the war.
Mr Prigozhin on Saturday posted a message on the Telegram app saying his forces were in Rostov and ready to "go all the way" against the top brass and destroy anyone who stood in their way.
The administration of the Voronezh region, on the M-4 motorway between the regional capital Rostov-on-Don and Moscow, said on Telegram that a military convoy was on the highway and urged residents to avoid using it.
Unverified footage posted on social media showed a convoy of assorted military vehicles, including at least one tank and one armoured vehicle on flatbed trucks. It was not clear where they were, or whether the covered trucks in the convoy contained fighters. Some of the vehicles were flying the Russian flag.
Mr Prigozhin said he had led his fighters out of Ukraine to Rostov, where a video posted by a pro-Wagner Telegram channel showed him, seemingly relaxed, conversing with two generals at the headquarters of Russia's huge Southern Military District.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, records a video address in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on Saturday 24 June 2023 after initiating an armed rebellion. Credit: Prigozhin Press Service
Army General Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, whom Mr Prigozhin has praised in the past, said in a video that "the enemy is just waiting for our internal political situation to deteriorate".
"Before it is too late ... you must submit to the will and order of the people's president of the Russian Federation. Stop the columns and return them to their permanent bases," he said.
