An armed rebellion has broken out among Russian troop fighting to take Ukraine.
The rebellion is said to have been lead by Russian Mercenary Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin who led his troops out of Ukrain and into a key southern city in Russia
A low-profile businessman who benefited from having President Vladimir Putin as a powerful patron, Yevgeny Prigozhin moved into the global spotlight with Russia’s war in Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin has vowed to punish the organizers of the armed rebellion in Russia denouncing the uprising as “a stab in the back.” It was the biggest threat to his leadership in over two decades in power.
The private army led by Prigozhin appeared to control the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city 660 miles (over 1,000 kilometers) south of Moscow that runs Russian offensive operations in Ukraine, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said.
As the fast-moving events unfolded in Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow is suffering “full-scale weakness” and that Kyiv was protecting Europe from “the spread of Russian evil and chaos.”
In his address, Putin called the actions by Prigozhin, whom he did not mention by name, a “betrayal” and “treason.”
All those who prepared the rebellion will suffer inevitable punishment,” Putin said. “The armed forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders.”
Prigozhin said his fighters would not surrender, as “we do not want the country to live on in corruption, deceit and bureaucracy.”
“Regarding the betrayal of the motherland, the president was deeply mistaken. We are patriots of our homeland,” he said in an audio message on his Telegram channel.
Prigozhin’s private military contractor, known as Wagner, has been fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine. His goals weren’t immediately clear, but the rebellion marks an escalation in his struggle with Russian military leaders, whom he accused of botching the war in Ukraine and hobbling his forces in the field.
“This is not a military coup, but a march of justice,” Prigozhin said.
