Vladimir Putin has vowed to crush an armed insurrection led by the warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, describing the rebel militia making their way through southern Russia towards Moscow as a treasonous “stab in the back”.
Facing the first coup attempt in Russia for three decades, the president said he had given “necessary orders” to tackle the Wagner paramilitary group with “decisive measures” to retake the city of Rostov.
Russian military helicopters fired on a convoy of Wagner troops and armoured vehicles including tanks heading north towards the capital, according to unverified videos published on social media. At 1400 GMT the convoy was about 350km from Moscow’s outer ring road, where Russian troops have set up checkpoints.