Putin vows harsh action against Wagner’s ‘armed mutiny’

Rostov-on-Don/Voronezh — Russian military helicopters opened fire on Saturday afternoon on a convoy of rebel mercenaries already more than half way towards Moscow in a lightning advance after seizing a southern city overnight.

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to crush what he called an armed mutiny after the private army of mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin seized control of a southern city as part of an attempt to oust the military leadership.

In Russia's first armed insurrection since the Chechen wars 20 years ago, heavily armed fighters from Prigozhin's Wagner militia were in control of the streets of Rostov-on-Don, a city of more than a million people close to the border with Ukraine, and were rapidly advancing northwards through western Russia.

A Reuters journalist saw army helicopters open fire at an armed Wagner column that was advancing past the city of Voronezh with troop carriers and at least one tank on a flatbed truck. The city is more than half way along the highway from Rostov to Moscow.

In Moscow, there was an increased security presence on the streets. Red Square was blocked off by metal barriers.

“Excessive ambitions and vested interests have led to treason,” Putin said in a televised address, calling the mutiny a “stab in the back”.

“It is a blow to Russia, to our people. And our actions to defend the Fatherland against such a threat will be harsh.”

“All those who deliberately stepped on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed insurrection, who took the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, will answer both to the law and to our people,” Putin said.

A defiant Prigozhin swiftly replied that he and his men had no intention of turning themselves in.

“The president makes a deep mistake when he talks about treason. We are patriots of our motherland, we fought and are fighting for it,” Prigozhin said in an audio message. “We don't want the country to continue to live in corruption and deceit.”

In a series of messages overnight, Prigozhin demanded defence minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov come to see him in Rostov.

Western capitals said they were watching the situation in nuclear-armed Russia closely. The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed.

“This represents the most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times,” Britain's defence ministry said.

“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.”

Prigozhin, a former convict and long-time ally of Putin, leads a private army that includes thousands of former prisoners recruited from Russian jails.

His men took on the bloodiest fighting of the 16-month Ukraine war — a protracted battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut — and he has feuded for months with the regular army's top brass, accusing generals of incompetence and of withholding ammunition from his fighters.

This month, he defied orders to sign a contract placing his troops under the command of the Defence Ministry.

Alleged air strike

He launched the apparent mutiny on Friday after alleging that the military had killed a large number of his fighters in an air strike. The defence ministry denied it.

“Those who destroyed our lads, who destroyed the lives of many tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, will be punished. I ask that no-one offer resistance...,” Prigozhin said.

“There are 25,000 of us and we are going to figure out why chaos is happening in the country,” he said, promising to destroy any checkpoints or air forces that got in Wagner's way. He later said his men had been involved in clashes with regular soldiers and had shot down a helicopter.

Russia's FSB security service opened a criminal case against Prigozhin for armed mutiny and said his statements were “calls for the start of an armed civil conflict on Russian territory”.