RUSSIA: Vladimir Putin of Russia promises to put an end to the "armed mutiny" after Yevgeny Prigozhin of Wagner attempts to remove the senior brass.
As Wagner fighters apparently advanced towards Moscow and seize control of military governing bodies in significant Russian cities. After dissident mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed on Saturday that he had taken control of a southern city as part of an attempt to overthrow the military leadership, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised in an emergency televised address on Saturday to put an end to what he called an armed rebellion.
The leader of the Wagner mercenary group promised on Saturday to "go to the end" to overthrow the Russian military hierarchy after accusing them of attacking his troops, even as the prosecutor general of the nation stated he was being looked into for "armed rebellion." The threat from Prigozhin appeared to be Putin's biggest domestic issue since he gave the order to invade Ukraine in its entirety in February of last year.
Updates on the Russia-Ukraine conflict: In a televised speech, Putin referred to the mutiny as a "stab in the back" and claimed that "excessive ambitions and vested interests have led to treason." "It is a setback for our nation and for Russia. And we'll take tough measures to protect the Fatherland from this threat.
In his speech, Putin stated that "all those who deliberately chose the path of betrayal, who planned an armed uprising, who adopted the path of extortion and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, will answer both to the law and to our people."
In Rostov, a city close to the Ukrainian border that Prigozhin said he had taken control of, Prigozhin had requested that Sergei Shoigu, the minister of defence, and Valery Gerasimov, the head of the general staff, come to see him. Bakhmut, a city in Ukraine, was overtaken by Prigozhin's Wagner militia last month, and he has been openly criticising Shoigu and Gerasimov of being incompetent and depriving Wagner of weapons and supplies for months.
When he said that Putin's justification for the invasion of Ukraine 16 months ago was based on lies devised by the army's senior brass, he looked to have crossed a new line in the conflict on Friday.
In a video clip, Prigozhin claimed that the war was necessary for Shoigu to obtain a second "Hero" (of Russia) medal and become a marshal. He referred to Putin's arguments for starting the conflict, saying that neither demilitarising nor denazifying Ukraine were necessary.
He had then made it plain that he was going against the troops in one of numerous frantic audio transmissions sent during the night. "Those who killed our warriors and took tens of thousands of Russian soldiers' lives will be held accountable. I kindly request that no one opposes me," he remarked.
He declared, pledging to take down any air forces or checkpoints in Wagner's path, "There are 25,000 of us and we are going to figure out why chaos is happening in the country." Later, he claimed that his troops had engaged in combat with regular military and shot down a helicopter.
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