Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday raised the specter of civil war after embittered warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin seized control of key parts of the south of the country.
Prigozhin, who has long lambasted Russia’s top brass for their handling of the war in Ukraine, has seized the large strategic city of Rostov-on-Don, a crucial command center for the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, some 1,000 kilometers south of Moscow.
His Wagner Group mercenary forces also appear to have a foothold around Voronezh, about 500 kilometers from the capital.
Putin has condemned the insurrection as “treason” and Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov has said his fighters have already been dispatched to take the battle to Wagner — raising the prospect of imminent civil conflict inside Russia.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense has called Prigozhin’s uprising “the most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times.”
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