Putin is 'obviously very afraid' and 'probably hiding', says Zelensky
Vladimir Putin is "obviously very afraid" and "probably hiding", the Ukrainian president has said after a rebellion saw mercenaries turn back just 120 miles from Moscow.
The sudden retreat came at the end of a dramatic day during which Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin vowed to topple Russia's military leadership, seized a southern Russian city and sent a convoy towards the capital.
As part of a deal to defuse the situation and end his uprising, Prigozhin was ordered to leave Russia and charges against him will be dropped, the Kremlin said.
Russian authorities will not prosecute troops who joined him in the mutiny and will offer Russian military contracts to those who did not.
In an address last night, Volodymyr Zelensky branded the rebellion as "complete chaos", and stated his belief that Putin has fled the capital for his own safety.
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Zelensky (pictured on June 16) branded the rebellion as "complete chaos" (AP)He said: "The man from the Kremlin is obviously very afraid and probably hiding somewhere, not showing himself.
"I am sure that he is no longer in Moscow … he knows what he is afraid of because he himself created this threat."
Moscow had braced for the arrival of the Wagner forces by erecting checkpoints with armoured vehicles and troops on the city's southern edge.
About 3,000 Chechen soldiers were pulled from fighting in Ukraine and rushed there early on Saturday, state television in Chechnya reported.
Russian troops armed with machine guns put up checkpoints on Moscow's southern outskirts. Crews dug up sections of highways to slow the march.
Servicemen sit in a Wagner tank on a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia (AP)Wagner troops advanced to just 200 kilometres (120 miles) from Moscow, according to Mr Prigozhin. But after the deal was struck, he announced that he had decided to retreat to avoid "shedding Russian blood".
Zelensky added: "Today the world saw that the bosses of Russia do not control anything. Nothing at all. Complete chaos. Complete absence of any predictability. And it is happening on Russian territory, which is fully loaded with weapons.
"In one day, they lost several of their million-plus cities and showed all Russian bandits, mercenaries, oligarchs and anyone else how easy it is to capture Russian cities and, probably, arsenals with weapons."
Meanwhile, a Treasury minister has said the attempted rebellion is an internal matter for Moscow and does not change the UK’s position on Ukraine.
Prigozhin was ordered to leave Russia and charges against him will be dropped (Yevgeny Prigozhin/east2west news)Chief Secretary to the Treasury John Glen told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “It is obviously a very unstable situation in Russia, but it is fundamentally an internal matter.
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“And we’ve obviously urged, alongside our allies … that obviously civilian interests are considered.
“This isn’t a matter that we will be intervening in, but obviously we observe and monitor the situation on an ongoing basis very carefully.”
He added: "Nothing has changed with respect to the British Government’s position on supporting Ukraine."
An explosion at a fuel depot in Voronezh, Russia (AP)Wagner troops have played a crucial role in the Ukraine war, capturing the eastern city of Bakhmut, but Mr Prigozhin has increasingly criticised the military top brass, accusing it of incompetence and of starving his troops of munitions.
The brief revolt, which saw Wagner Group soldiers move unimpeded for hundreds of miles towards Moscow, fizzled out after Prigozhin reached a deal with the Kremlin to go into exile and sounded the retreat.
Under the deal announced on Saturday by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Mr Prigozhin will go to neighbouring Belarus, which has supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with charges against him of mounting an armed rebellion dropped.
The government also said it would not prosecute Wagner fighters who took part, while those who did not join in were to be offered contracts by the Defence Ministry.
Traffic seen along the M4 highway to Moscow yesterday (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Prigozhin ordered his troops back to their field camps in Ukraine, where they have been fighting alongside Russian regular soldiers.
Putin had vowed to punish those behind the armed uprising led by his one-time protege, calling the rebellion a "betrayal" and "treason" during a televised address on Saturday morning.
In allowing Mr Prigozhin and his forces to go free, Mr Peskov said Mr Putin's "highest goal" was "to avoid bloodshed and internal confrontation with unpredictable results".
Some observers said the Russian leader's strong man image had taken a hit with former US ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst telling CNN: "Putin has been diminished for all time by this affair."
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