Putin on the departure of Wagner forces from Ukraine: “internal betrayal”

– We will defend our country against treason from within, replies the president Russian President Vladimir Putin In continuous conversation, according to Bloomberg News.

In the speech, the president turns to soldiers of the Wagner Group who he says have been “tricked into participating in an armed insurrection.”

The development over the past 24 hours has been exciting in Russia. On Friday, Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry of deliberately bombing Wagner soldiers stationed in Ukraine.

– We’re inside the headquarters, it’s 7:30 in the morning, he says in a Telegram video

Wagner’s chief also stated that his forces shot down a Russian military helicopter. Like other information from Prigozhin, it has not been verified by the Russian side.

“armed call”

“Prigozhin’s statements and actions constitute, in fact, calls for armed civil conflict on Russian soil and a stab in the back for the Russian military,” the FSB said in a statement.

Wagner’s soldiers are called upon by the FSB to arrest their commander. At the same time, the Russian military leadership promises impunity to soldiers who abandon Wagner and join the national army instead.

“You have been deceived into participating in Prigozhin’s criminal activities and in an armed rebellion,” the military leadership wrote in a statement.

Increased security in Moscow

According to the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin is regularly informed of developments.

Security around Moscow has been beefed up, and special units of the Russian National Guard have been put on high alert in the Russian capital.

The M4 highway connecting Moscow with Russia’s southern regions, on the border between Lipetsk and Voronezh provinces, was also closed.