Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin, the chief of the private mercenary group Wagner, marched his troops into the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. Then he declared that his fighters had entered Rostov-on-Don, the base camp for Russia’s southern military command. They have also occupied key military installations.

On Friday, Prigozhin claimed that Russia’s military had attacked a Wagner camp and killed a lot of his men. He said, “There are 25,000 of us and we are going to find out why there is such chaos in the country.” Defence Minister Shoigu denied the allegation, calling it “informational propaganda.”

In a video, Prigozhin said that his men would siege Rostov-on-Don unless Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s top general, come to meet him.  He blames Shoigu and Gerasimov for Moscow’s faltering invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin termed Wagner’s action as “treason” and vowed to punish those behind this. Hours later, he addressed the nation and said, “Those who carry deliberately on a path of treason, preparing an armed rebellion when you were preparing terrorist attacks, will be punished”. He further added, “Any internal turmoil is a deadly threat to our statehood for us as a nation; it is a blow to Russia for our people and our actions to protect our homeland. Such a threat will face a severe response.”

Prigozhin responded by saying that his fighters are the “patriots of our Motherland”. He promised, “No one is going to turn themselves in at the request of the president, the FSB, or anyone else.”

Russia’s internal security force, Federal Security Service (FSB), has made criminal charges against Prigozhin by accusing him of calling for “an armed rebellion.”

Putin further said, “This was the same kind of blow that Russia felt in 1917 when the country entered World War I, but had victory stolen from it. Intrigues, squabbles, and politicking behind the backs of the army and the people turned out to be the greatest shock, the destruction of the army, the collapse of the state, the loss of vast territories, and in the end, the tragedy and civil war. Russians killed Russians, brothers killed brothers.”