Wagner group mutiny against Russia live updates | Mercenary chief denies Putin’s allegations, says he and his men won’t turn themselves in

Germany’s foreign ministry told travellers to avoid the city of Rostov and the surrounding area as well as Moscow city centre until further notice due to events taking place in Russia.

“In Moscow, state, especially military facilities, are to be avoided. The city centre should be avoided until further notice. The instructions of Russian security authorities should be followed at all costs,” it said in its updated travel advice.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev called on Russians to rally around President Vladimir Putin amid a mutiny by the Wagner Group mercenary army.

Russian mercenary leader Yevgheny Prigozhin denied allegations by President Vladimir Putin that he is betraying his country and called his fighters patriots.

In an audio message on his Telegram channel, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said: “Regarding the betrayal of the motherland, the president was deeply mistaken. We are patriots of our homeland.”

He said his fighters would not turn themselves in at the request of Putin, as “we do not want the country to live on in corruption, deceit and bureaucracy.”

The speakers of both of Russia’s houses of parliament said they backed Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has urged the Wagner mercenary group to halt a bid to oust the country’s military leadership.

The head of the upper house of parliament Valentina Matvienko said Putin has members’ “full support,” while the speaker of the lower house Vyacheslav Volodin urged Russians to “support” the long-time leader.

NATO is “monitoring the situation” in Russia, a spokeswoman for the transatlantic military alliance said via email on Saturday.

The spokeswoman, Oana Lungescu, had no further comment.

Estonia has strengthened its border security and urges people not to travel to any part of neighbouring Russia, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said on Saturday.

“I can assure that there is no direct threat to our country,” Kallas tweeted.

The governor of Russia’s southern region of Voronezh said that Russian military were taking necessary measures to suppress an attempt by the Wagner mercenary group to topple the country’s senior military leadership.

“As part of the counter-terrorist operation on the territory of the Voronezh region, the armed forces of the Russian Federation are carrying out necessary operational and combat measures,” the official, Alexander Gusev, said in a statement on social media.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said his forces were ready to help put down a mutiny by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and to use harsh methods if necessary.

Kadyrov in a statement called Prigozhin’s behaviour “a knife in the back” and called on Russian soldiers not to give in to any “provocations.”

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that the rebellion by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin shows ​Russia’s invasion of Ukraine​ is backfiring against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Meloni “is following closely the events unfolding in Russia, which show how its aggression against Ukraine is causing instability within the Russian Federation,” Meloni’s office said in a statement.

Britain’s Defence Ministry has described the Wagner mercenary group’s armed rebellion as the most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times.

The ministry’s intelligence update posted Saturday says that the feud between Yevgeny Prigozhin’s group and the Russian state has “escalated into outright military confrontation’’

“In Rostov-on-Don, Wagner has almost certainly occupied key security sites, including the HQ which runs Russia’s military operations in Ukraine,’’ the update said. “Further Wagner units are moving north through Voronezh Oblast, almost certainly aiming to get to Moscow.”

Ukraine’s head of military intelligence says the conflict between the Russian military leadership and mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is “a frontal clash of lies and truth.”

Kyrylo Budanov told Ukrainian television on Saturday that the conflict stands out because Prigozhin, whether “you like him or not, he mainly says (the) truth” while Russia’s Defense Ministry tells “mainly lies.”

He said that the conflict “is not fake.”

Budanov said that, while senior Defense Ministry officials talk of advances with young and brave soldiers, Prigozhin points to miscalculations, poor equipment, lack of training and other problems.

The Russian-installed heads of Ukrainian regions occupied by Moscow expressed support for President Vladimir Putin as Russia faces an extraordinary mutiny by mercenaries from the Wagner group.

“The Kherson region and the people of Kherson completely support our president!”, the Russian-installed head of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region said on Telegram. The Kremlin-appointed head of the part of the Zaporizhzhia region controlled by Moscow, Yevgeny Balitsky, said the territory was “with the president.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin briefed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on the situation in Russia, according to a message posted on the Belarusian presidency’s official Telegram channel.

Putin has vowed to crush what he calls an armed mutiny after rebellious mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said he had taken control of a southern city as part of an attempt to oust the military leadership.

Emmanuel Macron is closely monitoring the situation in Russia after the Wagner mercenary group launched an armed mutiny against the Kremlin’s forces, the French president’s office said Saturday.

“The president is following the situation very closely. We remain focussed on supporting Ukraine,” the Elysee said.

After fighting erupted in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on April 15, questions have been raised over the involvement of the Wagner group, which has been active in African countries for years.

Explained | The Wagner group’s actions in Africa

how the Russia-backed Wagner group is operating in different countries of Africa both politically and economically

Ever since the 2014 Ukrainian conflict, the Wagner Group has expanded its operations to many parts of the world, from Africa to West Asia and Latin America. In most of the countries they were deployed, as Mr. Putin said in the Duma, Russia could expand its military footprint and associated political influence, without actually sending Russian armed forces.

There are several Russian private paramilitary companies that are registered abroad. The Wagner Group, however, remains a shadowy organisation. Wagner is not a registered business in Russia — and where it has been registered, if at all, remains a mystery.

Wagner Group | Russia’s shadowy private soldiers 

The private security organisation that emerged in Ukraine in 2014 has grown into a military behemoth with presence across continents

Putin vowed to defend the country and its people from an armed rebellion declared by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Putin said the mutiny amounted to “a deadly threat to our statehood” and vowed “tough actions” in response. “All those who prepared the rebellion will suffer inevitable punishment. The armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders,” Putin said.

Britain’s defence ministry said on Saturday that the Russian state was facing its greatest security challenge of recent times, following what it said appeared to be a move by Wagner Group mercenary 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,” Britain’s defence ministry said in a regular intelligence update.

“This represents the most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times,” it added.

Vladimir Putin said in an emergency televised address on Saturday that an “armed mutiny” by the Wagner Group mercenary force was treason, and that anyone who had taken up arms against the Russian military would be punished.

He 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.

He added that an armed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries was a “stab in the back” and that the group’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had betrayed Russia.

The head of Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin announced Saturday that he was inside the army HQ in southern Russia’s Rostov-on-Don and that his fighters control the city’s military sites, including an aerodrome, after vowing to bring down Moscow’s top brass.

“We are inside the (army) headquarters, it is 7:30 am (0430 GMT),” Prigozhin said in a video on Telegram. “Military sites in Rostov, including an aerodrome, are under control,” he added.

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.

The mayor of Moscow said on Saturday that “anti-terror” measures were being taken in the Russian capital after the chief of mercenary group Wagner vowed to bring down the country’s military leadership.

Authorities in the regions of Rostov and Lipetsk also said security had been reinforced there.

The chief of mercenary group Wagner said on Saturday that his 25,000-strong force was “ready to die” as he vowed to topple Russia’s military leadership.

“All of us are ready to die. All 25,000, and then another 25,000,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a new audio message. “We are dying for the Russian people.”