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US President Joe Biden has been briefed and his administration is closely monitoring fast-moving developments in Russia as Vladimir Putin vowed “decisive actions” to suppress mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his armed rebellion. “We are monitoring the situation and will be consulting with allies and partners on these developments,” according to a statement on Friday night from National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge. Prigozhin – once a longtime ally of Putin – is accused of treason for mounting what Russian officials have called an armed rebellion with his Wagner paramilitary group, fuelled by allegations that Russia failed to adequately support his forces in Ukraine. He also has accused Russia’s military leadership of striking against his forces. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that he has spoken with G7 foreign ministers and European Union officials “to discuss the ongoing situation in Russia”. “The United States will stay in close coordination with Allies and partners as the situation continues to develop,” he added. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin Defense also is monitoring the crisis, according to Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also has been briefed on the situation. Canada’s Incident Response Group will meet on Saturday to discuss developments. “We’re in contact with our allies and will continue to monitor the situation closely,” he announced on Saturday. Russian prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation. In a televised address on Friday, Putin called Prigozhin’s maneuvers “a stab in the back of our country and our people”. The Wagner group was designated a transnational criminal organization by the US in January. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the group had an estimated 50,000 personnel inside Ukraine made up of 10,000 contractors and 40,000 people enlisted from Russian prisons. Wagner’s armed convoys have moved into Rostov-on-Don, the largest city in southern Russia and roughly 100km from the eastern Ukraine border. Rostov, with a population of roughly one million people, also houses Russia’s southern military district command and the 58th Combined Arms Army, currently engaged in major counteroffensive efforts against Ukraine. The governor of Russia’s Lipetsk province announced on Saturday that the group has now entered that region. Prigozhin also was among 13 Russians indicted by a federal grand jury for interfering in the US elections in 2016, allegedly using his Russia-based Internet Research Agency to wage “information warfare” with false social media accounts promoting bogus statements and messages that supported Donald Trump. He has denied wrongdoing but remains wanted by the FBI. Read More Russia-Ukraine war live: Kremlin denies Putin has fled Moscow as plane mysteriously disappears from radar Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? The Wagner Group mercenary chief urging a ‘civil war’ against Putin Rishi Sunak ‘in touch with allies’ about Wagner group rebellion in Russia

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The Kremlin has denied Vladimir Putin fled Moscow by plane after claiming Russia is ‘facing treason’ from members of the mutinous Wagner group. One of several planes that Putin uses for official visits took off from Moscow at 2.15pm local time, according to Flight Radar, which tracks aircraft in real-time. Less than half an hour later, it went off radar about 150 kilometres from Mr Putin’s official residents. “Putin is working at the Kremlin,” his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Tass news agency when asked about reports of him going to the north-west, possibly St Petersburg. FlightRadar data reported that at 15:06 that the plane disappeared from radars near the Tver region. It is believed one of Putin’s residences is located in the Tver region. Deputy premier Denis Manturov, left Russia for Turkey on Saturday, according to multiple reports. It comes after Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed he and his troops had taken control of key sites in Rostov-on-Don, a major logistical hub, including the airfield. An audio message on the social media app Telegram detailed Prigozhin’s fighters had crossed the border and were “ready to die” in confrontation with those in their way. “All of us are ready to die. All 25,000, and then another 25,000,” he said, after earlier accusing the Russian top brass of launching strikes against his men,” he said. “We are dying for the Russian people.” Prigozhin later took to the Wagner Telegram channel to share a chilling message for the Russian president. “Putin made the wrong choice. All the worse for him,” he wrote. “Soon we will have a new president.” However, Putin was quick to double-down on those working outside his regime and warned on Saturday morning of “inevitable punishment” for anyone dividing Russian society. “This is a criminal campaign. It is equivalent to armed mutiny,” Putin said. “Russia will defend itself and repel this move. We are fighting for the life and security of our citizens and our territorial integrity. “In the face of those who are fighting on the front, this is a stab in the back of the troops and the people of Russia.” Wagner are a private paramilitary group run by Prigozhin who currently claims to have more than 25,000 fighters under his command. Read More Ukraine-Russia war – live: Furious Putin calls Wagner mutiny ‘treason’ and ‘mortal blow’ to troops Rishi Sunak ‘in touch with allies’ about Wagner group rebellion in Russia Is this the end for Putin? His country now stands on the edge of civil war The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

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Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces won’t surrender after Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced their military rebellion

Ukrainian forces are advancing in East Ukraine and have vowed to take advantage of an unfolding “civil war” in Russia, as Vladimir Putin faces an armed insurrection by the country’s most powerful mercenary group. In a direct threat to Putin’s authority, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Wagner, accused Moscow’s military of bombing his men and seized control of a key Russian city on Saturday morning. The outspoken leader of the world’s most infamous private army promised to march on the capital to get his revenge. In an unprecedented speech, Mr Putin called the act “treason” and said those who “took the part of blackmail and terrorist method will suffer inevitable punishment”. Ukrainian President Zelensky broke his silence to say it was another example of “Russia’s full-scale weakness”. Watching eagerly from across the frontlines, Ukrainian commanders, defence ministry officials and soldiers, told The Independent the country was “maximising” the extraordinary implosion of military leadership in Russia to push forward with their much-anticipated counter-offensive. Soldiers on the ground, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said overnight they had already advanced on the battle-ravaged Bakhmut in the eastern region of Donbas. Wagner forces have largely spearheaded Russia’s advance on the city which has been locked in a bloody stalemate that it earned the moniker of “meat grinder”. “Without a doubt, we will take advantage of this, as you will see in the near future,” Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the east, told The Independent, adding that Ukraine had long waited for Russia’s “irregular”’ reliance on mercenaries to backfire. “We predicted this would happen sooner or later and would lead to a larger escalation,” he continued. “Prigozhin is a media mogul, he has a powerful troll factory, a network of telegram channels, and has bought military journalists. All this is seen by [Russia’s] military personnel, and it demoralises them. “We will definitely take advantage of the enemy's confusion.” Yuriy Sak, a top advisor to Ukraine's defence minister, told The Independent that the Ukrainian leadership was closely watching a “real military coup”. “We have been saying for a long time that Russia is on the path to civil war and now we are seeing this unfold in real-time.” “But we are still focused on the frontlines,” he added. “We maximise every moment and every opportunity. This one is no exception." Soldiers on the ground told The Independent they had managed to take some streets in the east of the country and were pressing ahead Saturday afternoon. They spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to comment to the media. “We are advancing in the Bakhmut direction, we have managed to take some streets and prisoners. And we will keep going,” said one infantryman in the east. “We had a productive night,” said another. “We can only take advantage of their confusion and seize certain parts of the front faster,” a third soldier wrote. Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to crush what he called an "armed mutiny" after Prigozhin and his private army seized control of Rostov-on–Don Saturday early morning. The city, which is home to more than a million people, is close to the border with Ukraine and a key logistical hub for Russia’s invasion forces. Prigozhin, who has frequently lashed out Russia’s generals, vehemently denied “betraying” his country. In multiple audio messages shared online, he vowed to oust the country’s military leadership that he accused of bombing his men, rampant corruption and “lying” to Putin and to the country about their motivations behind launching a war in Ukraine. The former food vendor turned mercenary chief said he had captured the headquarters of Russia's Southern Military District after leading his forces into Russia from Ukraine. Russian officials announced an immediate state of emergency across swathes of the country and shut down roads from the south to the capital. But unverified videos later posted to Wagner’s telegram groups allegedly showed their forces already en route to Voronezh city, which lies on the main road to Moscow. They claimed Russian servicemen “lay down their arms” in Wagner's wake. Other videos shared to Telegram groups associated with Russia’s security apparatus appeared to show multiple explosions in the Voronezh region, including an oil depot on fire. “Regarding the betrayal of the motherland - [President Putin] was deeply mistaken,” Prizhochin said in his latest audio clip shared online. “We are patriots of our country, we fought and are fighting. No one is going to turn themselves in at the request of the president, the [intelligence] or anyone else,” he vowed. President Zelensky meanwhile said that “Russia’s weakness is obvious”, in comments posted to Twitter. “Everyone who chooses the path of evil destroys himself," he continued. “The longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries on our land, the more chaos, pain, and problems it will have for itself later.” British defence officials said that Russia was facing “the greatest challenge in recent times” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Saturday urged all parties in Russia to protect civilians. Read More Rishi Sunak ‘in touch with allies’ about Wagner group rebellion in Russia Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? The Wagner mercenary chief urging a ‘civil war’ against Putin Russia-Ukraine war live: Furious Putin calls Wagner mutiny ‘treason’ and ‘mortal blow’ to troops The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

Watch a live view of Moscow city centre after Vladimir Putin has vowed to crush an “armed mutiny” from the Wagner mercenary group. The rebellion marks “the most significant challenge to the Russian state” in recent times, according to UK defence officials. Mr Putin, the president of Russia, called the actions of the private military company a “betrayal” after its chief Yevgeny Prigozhin vowed to topple Moscow’s military leadership. “Over the coming hours, the loyalty of Russia’s security forces, and especially the Russian National Guard, will be key to how the crisis plays out. This represents the most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times,” the UK’s Ministry of Defence tweeted. Mr Putin, meanwhile, has promised to “defend the people” and Russia. He addressed the nation on Saturday morning after Mr Prigozhin claimed that his forces now control military facilities in Russia’s southern city Rostov-on-Don. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

Wagner’s armed rebellion is said to be moving closer to Moscow after the mercenary group’s vehicles were seen driving past a second Russian city. A Reuters witness said they saw they saw a column of Wagner’s vehicles in the Russian city of Voronezh on Saturday afternoon. One of the vehicles was a flatbed truck carrying a tank. It comes after Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin called for an armed rebellion overnight and warned in a video that he and his troops had taken control of the military headquarters in key Russian city, Rostov-on-Don. Vladimir Putin said an “armed mutiny” by Yevgeny Prigozhin was treason and a “mortal blow” to Russia’s troops. In an emergency televised address, the Russian president said anyone who had taken up arms against his military would be punished. Putin said he would do everything to protect Russia, and that “decisive action” would be taken. Prigozhin demanded Mr Shoigu and Russia’s top general Valery Gerasimov meet him in Rostov-on-Don, otherwise threatening to “blockade the city of Rostov and head for Moscow.” Read More Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? The Wagner mercenary chief urging a ‘civil war’ against Putin Furious Putin calls Wagner coup ‘treason’: ‘This is a stab in the back to everyone in Russia’ Military vehicles on streets of Rostov-on-Don as Wagner chief claims control of HQ Who are Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner mercenary group

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