Russian military helicopters opened fire on a convoy of rebel Wagner mercenaries which was already more than half way towards Moscow in a lightning advance after capturing a southern city as it vowed to topple Moscow's military leaderhship. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's private Wagner militia were in control 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, Reuters reported.
Prigozhin, whose private army fought the bloodiest battles in Ukraine amid differences with the top brass, claimed to have captured the headquarters of Russia's Southern Military District in Rostov after leading his forces into Russia from Ukraine.
Vowing to crush the mutiny, President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address, said, “Excessive ambitions and vested interests have led to treason. 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.”
However, Prigozhin 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," Prigozh said in an audio message. "We don't want the country to continue to live in corruption and deceit."
According to the Reuters report, in a series of messages overnight, Prigozhin asked Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov to come see him in Rostov.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former convict and long-time ally of President Putin, leads a private army that includes thousands of former prisoners recruited from Russian jails.