Russian president Vladimir Putin Photo: GAVRIIL GRIGOROV
A fuse appears to have been lit between Russia's leadership and increasingly outspoken maverick Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner mercenary group, with Wagner troops entering a Russian city and Prigozhin calling for defence leaders to front up on the war.
RNZ's executive editor of specialist news Jeremy Rees looks at what we know about the latest developments.
Today's escalation of the conflict within Russia is just the latest in an extraordinary series of events of which little can be verified beyond the broad outlines that the Wagner Group's soldiers appear to be following their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin back into Russia and have entered the key southern city of Rostov-on-Don. Their mission, supposedly rid the Russian military of leaders it claims are incompetent in handling of the Ukrainian invasion. They appear to have been unchallenged.
The events are a blow to the prestige of Russian president Vladimir Putin, even if Prigozhin says he did not want to oust Putin.
Prigozhin has been launching critical broadsides against the organisation of the Russian military for months now, all of which have been tolerated so far by Putin.
In the latest Reuters take on what is happening, it says: rebellious Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin demanded in a video posted on Saturday that Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia's top general Valery Gerasimov come to meet him in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
Prigozhin said in one video posted on social media by his own press service that he was now at the headquarters of the Southern Military District, which is in Rostov-on-Don.
Rostov-on-Don is a staging post for the Russian military in the south for the war on Ukraine and has military aerodromes and ammunition stockpile, as well as a significant military headquarters.
Prigozhin, who was once Putin's caterer before forming a mercenary outfit, is responsible for one of Russia's only recent successes in Ukraine; he and his troops ground out the taking of Bakhmut, though it was costly in men and materiel.
Putin has spoken in a video statement, warning of "inevitable punishment" for those dividing the Russian society.
He said a counter-terrorism regime is now in place in the capital Moscow and several other regions.
Saturday 24 June, what has happened in Russia?
While events are still unfolding, and many things cannot be confirmed, by Saturday night New Zealand time this is what RNZ's accredited sources Reuters and BBC have verified:
- Prigozhin is releasing videos from within the Russian southern military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don.
- Prigozhin says in videos his troops control key sites within Rostov-on-Don
- Prigozhin also says in a video that the invasion of Ukraine was based on a lie; he says there was no direct threat from Ukraine to trigger the invasion.
- His latest video says he will head to Moscow unless defence chiefs Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov come to meet him. He blames them for incompetent handling of the invasion.
- The Moscow authorities have introduced "anti-terror" measures in Moscow. There are some armoured vehicles on the streets.
- In a statement, Putin said Russia's future is at stake, describing the actions of mutineers as a "stab in the back".
- Internet access to some news sites, like Google News, has been shut down.
- The governor of the Lipetsk region says the M4 highway which connects Moscow and Rostov has been closed about 400km south of Moscow, Russia's capital. This is the road north for any Wagner troop advance.
- The White House is watching developments.
- Russia's prosecutor general says he is investigating Prigozhin for suspicion of organising an armed rebellion.