Mercenary troops closing in on Moscow

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday vowed harsh punishment for the organisers of an armed rebellion spearheaded by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led his troops out of Ukraine and into a key southern city.

Putin denounced the uprising as “a stab in the back" in an address to the nation. It was the biggest threat to his leadership in over two decades in power. Prigozhin's private army appeared to control the military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city 660 miles (over 1,000 kilometres) south of Moscow that runs Russian operations in Ukraine, Britain's Ministry of Defence said.

Wagner troops and equipment also rolled into Russia's Lipetsk province, about 360 kilometres south of Moscow, where authorities “are taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the population," said regional Gov. Igor Artamonov, via Telegram. He did not elaborate, 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 speech, 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.