The latest on the armed rebellion declared by Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin:
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Russian mercenary leader Yevgheny Prigozhin on Saturday 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.”
Putin said in televised address to the nation earlier Saturday that “all those who prepared the rebellion will suffer inevitable punishment." He said that "the armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders,”
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS:
Putin calls armed rebellion by mercenary chief a betrayal and promises to defend Russia
Who is the head of the mercenary group calling for an armed rebellion in Russia?
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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Officials across Russia have rallied behind President Vladimir Putin, publicly reiterating their allegiance to the Kremlin and urging mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to back down.
Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, said that lawmakers “stand for the consolidation of forces” and support Putin after his address to the nation on Saturday.
He added that fighters from Prigozhin’s Wagner group “must make the only right choice: to be with their people, on the side of the law, to protect the security and future of the Motherland, to follow the orders of the Commander-in-Chief.”
Maria Zakharova, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said in a Telegram post that “we have one commander in chief. Not two, not three. One. And he urged everyone to unite.”
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Chechnya who in the past has sided with Prigozhin in his criticism of the military leadership, also expressed his full support for “every word of” Putin. He said that “the mutiny needs to be suppressed.”
So far, no Russian official has spoken out in support of Prigozhin.
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Unexpected support for mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s endeavor came from exiled tycoon turned opposition leader Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Khodorkovsky said in a Facebook post that Prigozhin’s rebellion is “the strongest blow to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s reputation,” and that helping him get to Moscow would be “helping our country.”
He said Prigozhin had “repeated word for word what we, the anti-war opposition, have been saying since the beginning of the war” — that the “purpose of the war is theft” and no one believes in the official reason for the war in Ukraine.
Khodorkovsky wrote: “Help the devil, if he decides to oppose this regime! Help because there is no crime worse than unleashing an aggressive war. If one criminal is ready to interfere with another ... we need to help, and then, if necessary, we will tackle them.”
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A Ukrainian presidential adviser says that the start of his country’s counteroffensive has “finally destabilized the Russian elites” and intensified internal splits.
Mykhailo Podolyak said Saturday that events are “developing according to the scenario that we have been talking about for the past year,” Ukraine’s Interfax news agency reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday vowed to defend the country from an armed rebellion declared by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, which Putin called a “stab in the back” to Russia.
The rebellion comes as Kyiv’s forces have been probing Russian defenses in the initial stages of a counteroffensive.
Podolyak said that “the start of the Ukrainian counteroffensive finally destabilized the Russian elites, intensifying the internal split that arose after the defeat in Ukraine.”
He added: “Today we are actually witnessing the beginning of a civil war.”
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Britain’s defense 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."
The update says there is very limited evidence of fighting between Wagner and Russian security forces.
“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," it said.
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A video that appeared on Telegram on Saturday showed mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin meeting with Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and deputy chief of the General Staff Vladimir Alexeyev.
In the video, whose origin couldn’t not be independently verified, Prigozhin claimed that he and his troops were “saving Russia” and demanded that the Russian authorities give up Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
“We want to get the chief of the General Staff and Shoigu,” Prigozhin said. “Until they are here, we are here, we are blocking the city of Rostov and go toward Moscow.”
Yevkurov and Alexeyev in the video tried to persuade Prigozhin to withdraw his forces from Roston-on-Don, but to no avail.
Prigozhin, a billionaire with ties to the Kremlin, has a long-running feud with the Russian military leadership.
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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.
He said: “This is a frontal clash of lies and truth. Even though both completely work in the interest of the Russian Federation, we need to remember this.”
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Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation Saturday and 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.
He called Prigozhin’s actions, without referring to the owner of the Wagner private military company by name, “a betrayal” and “a treason.” He urged “those who are being dragged into this crime not to make a fatal and tragic, unique mistake, to make the only right choice — to stop participating in criminal acts.”
Putin condemned the rebellion at a time when Russia was “fighting the toughest battle for its future” with its war in Ukraine. “The entire military, economic and information machine of the West is waged against us,” Putin said.
