At 10 am Moscow time, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation, saying that Russia’s authorities will not allow the country to be split, and will protect its people, adding that those who “took the path of insurrection and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment.”
Terming the mutiny attempt as "internal treason" and a betrayal of Wagner troops and Russia, the Russian president vowed harsh punishment for the insurgents amid reports that fighters of the Wagner group were visible on the streets of Russia's southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
The Russian leader noted that "excessive ambitions and vested interests have led to treason", calling the rebellion a "stab in the back" at a time, when the fate of the Russian people is being decided.
The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed late Friday that the country's Armed Forces continued to carry out combat missions on the contact line with the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the special military operation.
President Putin continues to work in the Kremlin, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik on Saturday afternoon.
Situation in Russia Following Prigozhin's Provocation
A counter-terrorist operation has been introduced in three regions: in Moscow city, as well as Moscow and Voronezh regions, with mass public events canceled in many others.
In Rostov, Wagner group's forces were seen moving military equipment, tanks, and armored vehicles on the streets. The situation was tense, but remained calm, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Saturday morning.
What Did Wagner Chief Say?
For months Prigozhin has bickered with Russia's Defense Ministry over the direction of Moscow's special operation in Ukraine and on Saturday, he accused the country's top military leadership of carrying out missile strikes against his fighters, prompting a retaliation from his forces.
He pledged to remove the nation's military leadership before adding that his men would "destroy everything" that could stop their "march to Moscow."
The country's FSB security service has filed a criminal case against Prigozhin, and the authorities have urged Wagner troops not to follow his orders and instead hand him over to Russia's security forces.
On the other hand, Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Russia's Chechen Republic whose units have participated vastly in the liberation of Donbass cities, asked the Wagner group's soldiers not to fall prey to their chief's attempts at betraying Russia.
"We have a Supreme Commander-in-Chief, elected by the people, who knows the whole situation in the smallest detail better than any strategist, let alone a businessman. He himself calls the commanders ‘on the ground’ and has complete control over the course of the [special military operation … And [Putin] absolutely rightly noted in his address to the nation — this is a military mutiny! There is no justification for such actions! I fully support every word of Vladimir … Putin," Kadyrov posted on his Telegram channel.
"Wagner soldiers should not fall for provocations. No matter what goals you are given, no matter what promises are told, the security of the state and the cohesion of Russian society are above all at such a moment," he concluded.