After the mercenary group's mutiny, Russia has declared an "anti-terrorist operation regime" in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is facing his biggest domestic crisis since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine after the head of the Wagner mercenary group said he has crossed into Russia with 25,000 troops.
Here are five key developments in this big story:
- Russian mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin appeared to suggest he had sent an armed convoy on a 1,200-km charge towards Moscow on Saturday in an unlikely attempt to topple the military leadership. Russian officials said a military convoy was on the main motorway linking the southern part of European Russia, bordering Ukraine, with Moscow, and warned residents to avoid it. In a video posted on Telegram, Mr Prigozhin announced that he was inside the army headquarters in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, and that his fighters controlled the city's military sites.
- A fuel depot was set on fire in Russia's southern city of Voronezh, the local governor announced after Moscow said the army was leading "combat" in the region amid a mutiny from Wagner mercenaries. "In Voronezh, (authorities) are extinguishing a burning fuel depot. There are 100 firefighters and more than 30 vehicles at the scene," governor Alexander Gusev said on Telegram, adding there were "no victims according to the first data". While Mr Gusev did not give the cause of the fire, some media outlets have published a video showing a military helicopter in the area before an explosion.
- In a televised address to the nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the actions of Mr Prigozhin and the Wagner mercenary group were a "deadly threat" to Russia and amount to internal treason. He said Mr Pizhogin's rebellion is like brother fighting brother and added that 'traitors' will be punished.
- After Mr Putin's address, Mr Prigozhin ruled out surrender and said the Russian president was "deeply mistaken" in calling the Wagner fighters traitors. "On treason of the motherland: the president is deeply wrong. We are patriots of our motherland. Nobody plans to turn themselves in at the request of the president, the FSB (security service) or anyone else," he said in an audio message on Telegram.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the insurrection launched by members of the Wagner mercenary group was evidence of Russia's inherent political instability. "Russia's weakness is obvious. Full-scale weakness. And the longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries on our land, the more chaos, pain, and problems it will have for itself later," he said in a statement. "Ukraine is able to protect Europe from the spread of Russian evil and chaos," Mr Zelensky said, adding, "For a long time, Russia used propaganda to mask its weakness and the stupidity of its government."
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