Reuters has filed some images of #Wagner fighters in the southern Russian city of #Rostov-on-Don, which Wagner boss Yevgeny #Prigozhin says his forces now control.
Bbc live page:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-66006142
On Friday night, security in #Russia was tightened, the internet was restricted and military trucks were spotted on #Moscow streets
#Prigozhin #Wagner

Latest overnight in Russia:
One video from #Rostov shows armed men in uniform surrounding the police HQ, while two tanks aim their guns at the building

Residents of the #Russian city, near the #Ukraine border, have been told to stay calm and remain indoors

It comes after #Wagner boss Yevgeny #Prigozhin called for a rebellion against the army - although he has denied attempting a coup

The #Kremlin has ordered Prigozhin's #arrest, and he is being investigated for inciting #mutiny

#Putin will make a televised address soon, the #Tass news agency quotes a #Kremlin spokesman as saying.
#Russia #Prigozhin #Wagner

#Putin critic and former oligarch #Khodorkovsky says:
"We need to help now, and then, if necessary, we will fight this one, too."

Khodorkovsky said it was important to back "even the devil" if he decided to take on the Kremlin.

"And yes, this is just the beginning," he said.
#Prigozhin #Wagner

Anti-terrorist operation introduced in #Moscow:
Mass events cancelled, selective ID checks allowed as well as home searches without warning; surveillance of phone calls and messages; checkpoints can be established anywhere

Many km long cues on the #Rostov - Moscow #motorway towards the #Russian capital acc to footage on telegram channel Moscowmap
#Prigozhin #Wagner #putin

Latest by #Prigozhin 'press service' on the #Wagner situation in #Rostov :

We are at the (police? Army?) hq. 7.30 AM. Military facilities in Rostov, including the airfield under control. Aircraft that leave for combat (in Ukraine) leave regularly. There are no problems.
We took control so that combat aircraft would not strike us, but the Ukrainians.

The main control centre is operating normally, there are no problems'

Then comes the description of the frontline situation in #Ukraine:

#Prigozhin #Wagner hq statement on the #Ukraine war:
'A huge amount of territory has been lost, the nr of soldiers killed is 3-4X more than it is reported up the chain... losses per day on some days amount to up to a thousand people - these are killed, missing, wounded and the so-called "refuseniks" who refuse not because they are scared, but because they have no way out. No ammunition, no controls. The Chief of the General Staff fled from here (#Rostov ) as soon as he found out that we come.”

#Russia 's defence ministry appeal on Telegram to #Wagner members:

'You were deceived into #Prigozhin 's criminal adventure to participate in an armed #rebellion

▫️ Many of your comrades have realised their mistake by asking for help, assistance from our side has already been provided

▫️ Please be prudent and get in touch with representatives of the #Russian #Ministry of #Defence or law enforcement agencies as soon as possible.

▫️ We guarantee everyone's safety.'

#Putin speech:
#Russia 's president says some #Russians have been "tricked into a criminal adventure"
Putin calls the actions of mutineers a "stab in the back". Without mentioning #Wagner boss #Prigozhin , Putin says the high "ambitions" of some have led to "high treason". He warned of "inevitable punishment" for those dividing the Russian society
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-66006142?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=6496996cf2e5745fd8a7856d%26WATCH%3A%20These%20actions%20a%20knife%20in%20the%20back%20of%20our%20people%2C%20says%20Putin%262023-06-24T07%3A23%3A10.358Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:13310d4c-5fee-4d61-858c-fc734f841fe0&pinned_post_asset_id=6496996cf2e5745fd8a7856d&pinned_post_type=share
More than 300 km of #Russia 's main #M4 #Don #motorway to the south, between #Moscow and #Rostov is closed to traffic inthe whole of the #Voronezh region, acc to regional gov

Now that more #Russia regions are introducing 'anti-terrorist' regime, here is what it might entail:

-ID checks - in the absence of a document - taking you to the police station for id-ing
-check on phone conversations and messages transmitted via the Internet
-CTO officers can enter any living quarters, as well as the premises of organizations
-use of vehicles of organizations, and in urgent cases - of citizens
-disconnect comms
#Prigozhin #Wagner

The #BBC 's #Russia editor Steve Rosenberg's take on the #Putin speech
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-66006142?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=64969b881babaa614a473135%26Putin%20talking%20tough%20-%20but%20is%20he%20in%20control%20of%20the%20situation%3F%262023-06-24T07%3A37%3A32.579Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:eef71655-6804-4b29-b295-72d31a6bdcf3&pinned_post_asset_id=64969b881babaa614a473135&pinned_post_type=share
#Prigozhin #Wagner

And here is Putin's speech if you fancy:
http://kremlin.ru/multimedia/video
In a nutshell he was talking Nazis, we are up against the whole of the west, fight for Russia's survival, need for unity, comparison w WWI, brothers killing brothers, foreign forces, internal traitors, rebellion, anarchy, capitulation, blackmail, traitors will be held responsible

#Prigozhin on the telegram channel closest associated with him (Prigozhin's cap) says #Putin is mistaken about #betrayal of the motherland - we don't want #Russia to live in corruption, lies and bureacracy - we are the patriots, he says.

Meanwhile on the telegram channel closest associated with #Wagner they reposted a jolly video about how to survive in a civil war

the take of #Ukrainian deputy defence minister, Anna #Malyar:
Whatever state they build, it turns into a “Gulag”, which sooner or later riots and falls apart. The #Ukraine #war showed the weakest point of the #Russia n empire - the fear of the truth. All their decisions are based on lies... This is such an imperial feature - to inflate one's own greatness and overestimate oneself. This prompted them to a completely inadequate decision - to unleash a war w Ukraine' #Prigozhin #wagner
#Russia 's censorship body Roskomnadzor says 'it might' restrict #internet #access in the regions where they started an 'antiterrorist operation', says TASS. These regions are #Moscow and surroundings, #Voronezh region etc
They deny having restricted Telegram, although users complain of app crashes in Moscow, St #Petersburg, #Volgograd, #Voronezh
#Prigozhin #Wagner #Putin

latest audio message from what sounds like #Prigozhin on a telegram channel associated with him - about support for him and #Wagner :

“We did not touch a single conscript. We didn't kill a single person along the way. We entered #Rostov and captured the headquarters building without firing a shot. We have not interfered with the work of a single person. There are people with PMC flags on the street.”

#Putin #Russia

The governor of the #Lipetsk region, Igor Artamonov has confirmed on his telegram channel that a #Wagner convoy has passed the area without incidents. He recommended to residents not to leave their homes
#Prigozhin #Putin #Russia
#Kaluga region's governor Vladislav Shapsha requested residents not to travel in the areas bordering the #Tula , #Bryansk , #Orlov and #Smolensk regions
#Wagner #Prigozhin #putin #Russia

#Moscow #museums close to the #Kremlin are being evacuated: #Tretyakov gallery, the #Pushkin museum, cultural centre #GES-2, and the shopping centres Mega Belaya Dacha and Kvartal

In cities across #Russia #Wagner billboards are being dismantled
#Prigozhin #putin

Reaction from the #Baltic states:
#Latvia 's Foreign Minister said entry for anyone leaving #Russia "due to current events" would not be considered for entry.

#Estonia too has said it is beefing up security along its border, with Prime Minister Kaja Kallas adding that she was in “close touch” with her Latvian, #Lithuanian and #Finnish counterparts.
#Prigozhin #Wagner #Putin

And in case you are new to the intrigues, relationships and powerplay within the #Kremlin, this is a scene very worthy of your attention - between #Putin and #Naryshkin just hours before the full scale #Ukraine #war has started
https://youtu.be/o9A-u8EoWcI

#Russia #Prigozhin #Wagner

'Speak directly!': Putin has tense exchange with his chief spy

YouTube
Some very interesting sightings popping up on #Russian regional telegram channels - the best way of verifying who is who among the people wearing uniform is currently the well known signage on tanks (V or Z) and a supporting police convoy
#Wagner #Prigozhin #Putin #Russia
@fulelo could you expand on that? Z or v and police convoy is Wagner or the military?
@alex13_h @fulelo my understanding is that the regular army uses the signage, unlike Wagner.