He posted a video of himself at the Russian military headquarters in Rostov and claimed that his forces had taken control of the air field and other military facilities in the city. The Wagner Group chief confirmed on Saturday that he and his troops reached Rostov-on-Don after crossing the border from Ukraine. “This is not a military coup, but a march of justice,” Mr Prigozhin said. It is not immediately clear what his aims are, but the rebellion marks an escalation in Mr Prigozhin’s struggle with Russian military leaders, whom he has accused of botching the war in Ukraine and hamstringing his forces in the field. “The armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders.” Mr Prigozhin’s Wagner private military contractor has been fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine.
The Russian President said: “All those who prepared the rebellion will suffer inevitable punishment. In his address, Mr Putin called the uprising by Mr Prigozhin, whom he did not mention by name, a “betrayal” and “treason”. The private army led by Mr Prigozhin appears to control the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don that runs Russian offensive operations in Ukraine, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in an intelligence briefing.
The uprising, which Mr Putin called “a stab in the back”, is the biggest threat to his leadership in more than two decades in power. In an address to the nation on Saturday morning, Mr Putin vowed to defend Russia against the armed rebellion after Mr Prigozhin led his troops out of Ukraine and into the key city 600 miles south of Moscow. Mr Prigozhin said his fighters would not turn themselves in at the request of Mr Putin, as “we do not want the country to live on in corruption, deceit and bureaucracy”.
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