Mutiny: Wagner chief reportedly seizes control of key military HQ in Russia

The head of the Wagner mercenary group on Saturday said he had crossed into Russia and seized control of a key military headquarters, vowing to topple Moscow’s military leadership and saying he and his 25,000 fighters were “ready to die”.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, 62, said his forces, who have spearheaded much of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, had entered the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and controlled its military sites.

“We are inside the (army) headquarters, it is 7:30 am (0430 GMT),” Prigozhin said in a video on Telegram.

“Military sites in Rostov, including an aerodrome, are under control,” he added. Russia’s military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don are a key logistical base for its offensive in Ukraine.

Prigozhin said planes taking part in the Ukraine offensive “are leaving as normal” from the airfield, and called on Russians not to believe what they were being told on state television.

“A huge amount of territory is lost. Soldiers have been killed three, four times more than it says in documents shown to the top (leadership).”

Videos and pictures posted online, including by the TASS state-run news agency, showed armed men surrounding administrative buildings in Rostov and tanks deployed in the city centre. It was not clear who the armed men were.

President Vladimir Putin was due to make a televised address on Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.

Russian authorities earlier said security had been tightened in several regions, and the mayor of Moscow announced that “anti-terrorist” measures were being taken in the capital and its environs.

The FSB security service accused Prigozhin of attempting to launch a “civil conflict” and urged Wagner fighters to detain him.

Russia’s defence ministry appealed to Wagner fighters to “show reason” and abandon Prigozhin, saying it would “guarantee the safety” of those who did so.

Prigozhin launched the most audacious challenge to Putin since the start of the offensive in Ukraine last year after accusing the Russian top brass of launching strikes against his men.

“We are dying for the Russian people,” he said. “All of us are ready to die. All 25,000, and then another 25,000,” he said in the earlier audio message. Punch