Moscow

The Russian authorities charged Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin with mutiny after he called on his troops to oust the country’s military leadership. 

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The Wagner chief has been accused of "incitement to armed rebellion" after he asked Russians to join his 25,000 Wagner fighters against defence minister Sergei Shoigu and other top military commanders. 

A threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin's primacy in the Kremlin is yet to be completely ruled out.

Prigozhin, whose Wagner mercenary group helped Russia seize the city of Bakhmut, accused the Russian military of carrying out a strike on its camp, as he threatened Shoigu, declaring: "This scum will be stopped!"

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Prigozhin also claimed that his forces had shot down a Russian military aircraft, a claim which is yet to be verified. 

All 'necessary measures' have been taken: Kremlin

Meanwhile, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin was informed about the developing situation and that "all necessary measures" were being taken.

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According to the Russian state-owned news agency TASS, security was tightened in Moscow at government facilities and key infrastructure with the Russian National Guard and security forces being put on alert.

"Special services and law enforcement agencies, namely the Defense Ministry, Federal Security Service, Interior Ministry and the Russian Guard, constantly report to the president in a round-the-clock mode on the measures taken in the context of the implementation of his earlier instructions," Peskov said in a statement in the early hours of Saturday.

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

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