Here is what Vladimir Putin has said so far:
Putin gave an emergency televised address on Saturday as the Wagner mercenary chief leads an armed rebellion:
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Putin said Russia was fighting “the toughest battle for its future”.
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He said the Wagner “armed mutiny” was a “stab in the back” to Russia. He called the rebellion treason and said anyone who had taken up arms against the Russian military would be punished.
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He said he would do everything to protect Russia, that the Russian armed forces “have been given the necessary orders” and that “decisive action” would be taken to stabilise the situation.
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Putin said: “I will do everything possible to defend my country … And those who have organised an armed rebellion will be held accountable. Those who have been drawn into this, I call on you to stop your criminal actions.”
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He also told viewers: “Personal interests have led to the betrayal of our country and the cause that our armed forces are fighting.”
Key events
Jonathan Yerushalmy
After a night of confusion and chaos, the Wagner group commander, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has said he is inside Russian army headquarters in Rostov-on-Don. More extraordinarily, the chief of the mercenary group claimed his fighters were in control of the city’s military sites.
Those claims cannot be independently verified and Prigozhin has a history of making outlandish and inaccurate statements. However, it is clear that the situation in the southern Russian city is precarious – and that turmoil in the region that is so strategically important to Moscow could have far-reaching ramifications for the conflict in Ukraine.
Why is Rostov significant and what does this mean for the conflict in Ukraine? Read Jonathan’s piece to learn more:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted that the work of his nation’s authority is “being blocked” by the armed rebellion against his regime.
Speaking in an emergency televised address on Saturday, Putin acknowledged a “difficult” situation was unfolding in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, where the Wagner mercenary group has taken control of key military sites in an effort to oust Russian military’s top brass.
“There will be decisive measures taken on stabilising the situation in Rostov-on-Don,” Putin said in an address to Russians. “It remains difficult and the work of civil and military authorities in fact is being blocked.”
Mayor of Kyiv Vitalii Klitschko said people may be trapped under rubble in the city on Saturday following overnight airstrikes.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said missiles had targeted at least five regions across the country. Three people were killed and eight wounded after a high-rise in the capital was struck, he said.
“This is the style of terrorists. The style of Russia,” he wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Klitschko was also speaking on the app.
Ukraine’s military said air defences had destroyed 41 out of 51 cruise missiles, as well as two drones, launched by Russia in the assault.
In a separate post, Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said the damage to the high-rise had been caused by fragments from a downed missile. He added that more than 20 missiles had been shot down around the city.
President Putin said the armed rebellion was an “attempt to subvert us from inside”, in an emergency message to his nation.
Putin said he spoke to the commander of the southern troops last night, in his televised address.
“Russia will defend itself and repel this inimical move”, he said, according to a Sky News translation.
“We are fighting for the life and the security of our citizens and our territorial integrity.
“It is a question of Russia’s millenial history. This requires the unity of everyone and the consolidation of all elements.
“Everything has to be done in order to put this danger to rest. It is an attempt to subvert us from inside. This is treason”
BREAKING: In a recorded address, Vladimir Putin says the Wagner group rebellion is a ‘criminal adventuristic campaign’ and “equivalent to armed mutiny”.
He says: “It is an attempt to subvert us from inside. This is treason.”
Latest: https://t.co/X3flQUBL0r
📺 Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/iaIgz7YASc
— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 24, 2023
French President Emmanuel Macron is following the situation in Russia closely, the presidential palace said on Saturday.
“We stay focused on the support to Ukraine,” the Elysee said.
Poland’s president held consultations with the prime minister and defence ministry about the situation in Russia, he said on Saturday, adding that Warsaw was monitoring the situation.
“In connection with the situation in Russia, this morning we held consultations with the prime minister and the ministry of defence, as well as with allies,” Andrzej Duda wrote on Twitter.
“The course of events beyond our eastern border is monitored on an ongoing basis,” he said.
UK’s MoD calls situation ‘most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times’
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has provided an update on the situation in Russia.
The MoD said: “In the early hours of June 24 2023, the feud between Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner group and the Russian MoD escalated into outright military confrontation.
“In an operation characterised by Prigozhin as a ‘march for freedom’, Wagner group forces crossed from occupied Ukraine into Russia in at least two locations.
“In Rostov-on-Don, Wagner has almost certainly occupied key security sites, including the HQ which runs Russia’s military operations in Ukraine.
“Further Wagner units are moving north through Vorenezh oblast, almost certainly aiming to get to Moscow. With very limited evidence of fighting between Wagner and Russian security forces, some have likely remained passive, acquiescing to Wagner.
“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. This represents the most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times.”
Lorenzo Tondo
At least three people were killed early on Saturday after Russia unleashed its latest overnight airstrike on Ukraine, officials said.
Ukrainian air defence shot down more than 20 missiles around the capital, Kyiv. However, three people died due to debris hitting a building in the Solomyansk district in Kyiv and about 10 were injured as rescue operations are ongoing, said the minister of internal affairs, Ihor Klymenko.
Guardian reporters visited the site of the incident. Some upper floors of the high-rise building were destroyed, with debris in the surrounding streets, as ambulances carried away the injured.
Russian missiles targeted at least five regions across Ukraine. Officials in the south-eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk said eight people were wounded – two of them children – and several buildings destroyed.
Governor Serhiy Lysak said air defences had destroyed nine missiles and three drones but that residential buildings in the regional capital, Dnipro, and an unspecified infrastructure object were hit. Blasts in other cities were reported but no indication of casualties or damage was provided.
Here is what Vladimir Putin has said so far:
Putin gave an emergency televised address on Saturday as the Wagner mercenary chief leads an armed rebellion:
-
Putin said Russia was fighting “the toughest battle for its future”.
-
He said the Wagner “armed mutiny” was a “stab in the back” to Russia. He called the rebellion treason and said anyone who had taken up arms against the Russian military would be punished.
-
He said he would do everything to protect Russia, that the Russian armed forces “have been given the necessary orders” and that “decisive action” would be taken to stabilise the situation.
-
Putin said: “I will do everything possible to defend my country … And those who have organised an armed rebellion will be held accountable. Those who have been drawn into this, I call on you to stop your criminal actions.”
-
He also told viewers: “Personal interests have led to the betrayal of our country and the cause that our armed forces are fighting.”
Putin said Russia was fighting “the toughest battle for its future” as the Wagner mercenary chief leads an armed rebellion.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force said it destroyed 41 Russian missiles and two drones during an overnight air strike.
Putin has said the Wagner rebellion is a “stab in the back” to Russia in his televised address.
In the emergency televised address on Saturday, Putin said that an “armed mutiny” by the Wagner Group mercenary force was treason, and that anyone who had taken up arms against the Russian military would be punished.
He said he would do everything to protect Russia, and that “decisive action” would be taken to stabilise the situation in Rostov-on-Don, a southern city where Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces had taken control of all military installations
Putin says in his address to the nation that as Russian president and commander in chief “I will do everything possible to defend my country”.
And those who have organised an armed rebellion will be held accountable. Those who have been drawn into this, I call on you to stop your criminal actions.
All those who went on the path of treason will be punished and will be held accountable. The armed forces have been given the necessary orders.
Putin says:
What we’re facing now is treason. Personal interests have led to the betrayal of our country and the cause that our armed forces are fighting.
Putin addresses nation
Vladimir Putin has begun a televised address to the Russian nation, saying he is fighting for the life and security of his people and the country needs unity of all its forces.
Timothy Snyder, a professor of history at Yale University and an expert on eastern Europe and the second world war, has tweeted:
All I can say about Russia is what I have been saying for a year: wars end when the domestic political system is under pressure.
1/2. All I can say about Russia is what I have been saying for a year: wars end when the domestic political system is under pressure.
— Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) June 24, 2023