Russian security forces seen taking positions in southern #Moscow, according to Russian newspaper. Russian security forces were seen taking positions in southern Moscow, according to photos published by Russian business newspaper Vedomosti. The images published by the paper showed Russian security forces in body armor and equipped with automatic weapons taking up a position near a highway linking Moscow with southern Russia. Photographs posted on the Vedomosti Telegram channel show armed and uniformed men on Lipetskaya Street, near the entrance to the M4 highway linking the capital with the cities of Voronezh and Rostov-on-Don. The photographs also show a helicopter in the sky over the area and a police truck. Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed his private military group fighters have taken control of a Russian military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don.
via cnn: Putin accuses Wagner chief of stoking ‘armed rebellion’
siehe auch: Putin vows to crush ‘armed mutiny’ after Prigozhin tries to oust top brass. Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to crush what he called an armed mutiny after rebellious mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday he had taken control of a southern city as part of an attempt to oust the military leadership. The dramatic turn, with many details unclear, looked like the biggest domestic crisis Putin has faced since he ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine – which he called a “special military operation” – in February last year. In a televised address, Putin said that “excessive ambitions and vested interests have led to treason”, and called the mutiny a “stab in the back”. “It is a blow to Russia, to our people. And our actions to defend the Fatherland against such a threat will be harsh.”; Russia coup latest: Kremlin denies Putin has fled Moscow. A Kremlin spokesman has denied reports that Vladimir Putin has fled Moscow by plane. One of several planes that Putin uses for official visits took off from Moscow at 2.15 pm local time, according to Flight Radar, which tracks aircraft in real-time. Less than half an hour later, it went off radar about 150 kilometres from Mr Putin’s official residence. (…) Russian helicopter gunships open fire on Wagner forces Russian military helicopters have opened fire on a convoy of rebel mercenaries already more than half way towards Moscow in a lightning advance after seizing a southern city overnight. President Vladimir Putin vowed to crush an armed mutiny he compared to Russia’s Civil War a century ago. Fighters from Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private Wagner militia were in control of Rostov-on-Don, a city of more than a million people close to the border with Ukraine, and were rapidly advancing northwards through western Russia. A Reuters journalist saw army helicopters open fire at an armed Wagner column that was advancing past the city of Voronezh with troop carriers and at least one tank on a flatbed truck. The city is more than half way along the 680-mile highway from Rostov to Moscow; Russia News Live: Choppers Fire On Wagner’s Column Heading To Moscow. Russia Wagner Group: The Wagner chief vowed Saturday to take all necessary steps to topple the country’s military leadership in Moscow, saying his forces would “destroy everything” in their way.