‘This is treason!’ Vladimir Putin blasts Wagner chief Prigozhin for a ‘stab in the back’ and says ‘measures will be very hard’ as warlord’s feared militia sweep into Russian city Rostov-on-Don and Moscow goes onto red alert for a military coup

Vladimir Putin has called Wagner chief Yevgney Prigozhin’s military coup ‘treason’ as he addressed the Russian people on Saturday, warning that the military leader had ‘stabbed him in the back’ as Moscow is on lockdown amid a red alert.

Prigozhin and his feared 25,000-strong Wagner militia have control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, saying they are ‘ready to die’ as they vow revenge for a military strike from Putin’s forces that the mercenary leader says killed some of his men.

The unit has now reached the halfway city of Voronezh as they advance on Moscow. 

All public events have been cancelled in the Russian capital as Vladimir Putin took to TV to say some Russians have been ‘tricked into a criminal adventure’ in a bid to affirm his increasingly shaky grip on power.

Putin described the group’s actions as ‘equivalent to armed mutiny’, and urged those involved to cease any armed resistance.

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