Putin statement due after Wagner chief threatens rebellion

Russia’s FSB security agency has launched “criminal proceedings” against the Wagner mercenary group warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin who is accused of organizing an ”armed insurrection.”  Prigoshin has pulled his troops back from Ukraine and on Saturday morning moved them into the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. He declared war on the Russian defense ministry, vowing, “If anyone gets in our way, we will destroy everything!”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin is aware of the rapidly unfolding situation and “all necessary measures are being taken.” He accused the Wagner chief of “calls for the beginning of an armed civil conflict on Russian territory.”

Prigozhin has accused Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of having hidden “colossal” failings on the battlefield from Putin, claiming they caused the deaths of 2,000 Wagner men.