Russia Rebellion Highlights: China says supports Russia in 'protecting national stability'
Wagner chief dispatches mercenaries towards Moscow
Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin appeared to suggest he had sent an armed convoy on a 1,200-km (750-mile) charge towards Moscow on Saturday in an unlikely attempt to topple the military leadership.
Russian local officials said a military convoy was on the main motorway linking the southern part of European Russia, bordering Ukraine, with Moscow, and warned residents to avoid it.
UK says Russia now facing greatest challenge of recent times
Britain's defence ministry said on Saturday that Russia was facing its greatest security challenge of recent times, following what it said appeared to be a move by Wagner Group forces towards Moscow.
"Over the coming hours, the loyalty of Russia's security forces, and especially the Russian National Guard, will be key to how this crisis plays out. This represents the most significant challenge to Russia in recent times," Britain's defence ministry said in a regular intelligence update.
Putin dubs Wagner mutiny 'treason' in televised address
Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to crush what he called an armed mutiny after rebellious mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday he had taken control of a southern city as part of an attempt to oust the military leadership.
The dramatic turn, with many details unclear, looked like the biggest domestic crisis Putin has faced since he ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine - which he called a "special military operation" - in February last year.
In a televised address, Putin said that "excessive ambitions and vested interests have led to treason", and called the mutiny a "stab in the back".
'We are patriots, and those who oppose us today are those who have gathered around scoundrels,' says Prigozhin
At 12:18 p.m. Prigozhin said in a voice message published by his press service that Putin was “deeply mistaken” to call his actions a betrayal.He added that Wagner forces would not surrender to anyone “because we don't want the country to continue living in corruption, deceit, and bureaucracy.”
Prigozhin went on to say that Wagner forces fought in Africa and Ukraine while the Russian military leadership embezzled ammunition, weapons, and money needed by forces on the ground for their own gain.
“We are patriots, and those who oppose us today are those who have gathered around scoundrels,” Prigozhin said.
(The Kyiv Independent)
'Russia's weakness obvious': Zelenskyy on Wagner mutiny
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that "Russia's weakness is obvious" and that the longer Moscow keeps its troops and mercenaries in Ukraine, the more chaos it would invite back home.
"He (Putin) despises people and throws hundreds of thousands into the war - in order to eventually barricade himself in the Moscow region from those whom he himself armed. For a long time, Russia used propaganda to mask its weakness and the stupidity of its government. And now there is so much chaos that no lie can hide it," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his first official statement after Wagner mercenaries mutinied and captured the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.