Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner group, said on Saturday that he would "go to the end" to overthrow Vladimir Putin and the Russian military leadership.
Prigozhin's speech follows Putin's public speech on Saturday, June 24, in which he promised to retaliate against Wagner forces for treason.
“Everyone who took up arms against the army is a traitor. Will do everything to protect Russia," Putin said while addressing the nation.
In response, Wagner PMC said in its Telegram channel, “Putin made the wrong choice. All the worse for him. Soon we will have a new president”
Even though Wagner forces have taken control of military governing bodies in important Russian cities, they are said to be just a few hours away from Moscow.
Wagner presently controls both Rostov (populace 1.1 million) and Voronezh (additionally populace 1.1 million). Wagner is now approaching Volgograd (950k) and Krasnodar (1 million), both of which have no resistance.
The UK has now swam into the new turns of events and made an announcement:
"Over the coming hours, the loyalty of Russia's security forces, and especially the Russian National Guard, will be key to how this crisis plays out. This represents the most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times," Britain's defence ministry said in a regular intelligence update.
