TEHRAN- President Vladimir Putin on Saturday accused the Russian Wagner group of “treason” and warned of “harsh” response. 

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian Wagner contractor group fighting in Ukraine, has turned his back against Moscow. 

The Wagner group is a Russian armed forces unit that had acted under the orders of President Putin.

In a live televised address, Putin said that any “armed mutiny” amounts to treason, and that anyone who takes up arms against the Russian military would be severely punished, while branding actions by Wagner as a “stab in the back". 

This comes as Prigozhin, whose forces has been fighting in Ukraine, said he has sent a convoy to Russia to topple the military leadership.

Putin calls mutiny by Wagner a ‘treason’ and says, ‘this is a stab in the back to everyone in Russia’

The Wagner group forces led the battle for Bakhmut, which proved to be the longest and bloodiest battle in the Ukraine war, so the combat effectiveness of Wagner fighters was not as strong as other Russian units that captured ethnic Russian speaking cities in Ukraine much more quickly.

Prigozhin, who for a while now, has not seen eye to eye with high-ranking Russian military officials, alleges a large number of his forces had been killed by a Russian air strike. He has not provided any evidence to back up his claims.

Analysts say it may have been a mistake to keep the Wagner group in the war. Experts say Prigozhin is most likely vying for the top military command in Russia. This would not be an easy task as President Putin retains the support and trust of massive military brigades.

However, the concern is that some Russian soldiers may be influenced by the Wagner chief’s rhetoric and join his ranks. This could form some internal division that Putin has warned against, and at a time that Russia is fighting a proxy war with NATO.

Prigozhin has also vowed to stop the "evil" of the military leadership, again without offering any explanation either.

That has sparked curiosity in Moscow that Prigozhin may now be on the payroll of a third party.

The Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement saying Prigozhin's accusations "do not correspond to reality and are an informational provocation".

In a series of audio messages on his social media platform, Prigozhin said, "Those who destroyed our lads, who destroyed the lives of many tens of thousands of Russian soldiers, will be punished. I ask that no one offer resistance." Again, no evidence was given. 

Russia's FSB Security Service had opened a criminal case against Prigozhin, dismissing his claims and calling on the Wagner private military company forces to ignore any of his orders and arrest him.

The Wagner forces have entered Russia and taken control of Rostov-on-Don, a city near the border with Ukraine.

Local Russian officials said a military convoy was seen on the main motorway linking the southern part of European Russia, bordering Ukraine, and warned local residents to avoid it. Prigozhin says his forces will head to Moscow if need be.

The mayor of Moscow says anti-terrorist measures are being taken to reinforce security in the Russian capital. Footage has also shown armed police and other security forces outside the Wagner PMC Centre in Russia's second city of St. Petersburg.

The Russian Defense Ministry, in a statement posted on social media, saying the Wagner fighters had been "deceived and dragged into a criminal adventure" by Prigozhin. The ministry urged them to contact its representatives and those of law enforcement services, and promised to guarantee their security.

Putin has said, “The Armed Forces and other government agencies have received the necessary orders, and additional anti-terrorist measures are now being introduced in Moscow, the Moscow region, and a number of other regions. Decisive action will also be taken to stabilize the situation in Rostov-on-Don”.

Prigozhin has demanded that the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov come and meet him in Rostov-on-Don. He has also claimed that his forces have taken control of all military installations in the southern border city.
Addressing “those who have been lured into this criminal adventure”, Putin described the actions of Prigozhin as a “stab in the back”.

He said “any internal turmoil” would be considered as a “mortal threat to our statehood, to us as a nation”.  The Russian president added that “our actions to protect the homeland from such a threat will be harsh.”

Putin warned, “Those who deliberately took the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed mutiny, who took the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer an inevitable punishment, will answer both to the law and to our people."

He said, “When the fate of our people is being decided, [it] requires the unity of all forces, unity, consolidation and responsibility. When everything that weakens us, any kind of discord, which our external enemies can and do, use to undermine us from the inside must be put aside. And so the actions that split our unity are, in essence, an apostasy from our people, from our comrades-in-arms who are fighting on the front lines right now. It is a stab in the back of our country and our people.”

The Russian leader has repeatedly branded the measures taken by the Wagner group chief as “treason” and “betrayal”, vowing to protect Russians from any threats.

 “We will protect both our people and our statehood from any threats, including internal betrayal. And what we are facing is precisely betrayal. Excessive ambition and vested interests led to treason, betrayal of their country, their people, and the cause for which the soldiers and commanders of the Wagner group had fought and died, side by side with our other units,” Putin pointed out.

He condemned Prigozhin for betraying other Russian forces who fought side-by-side together in what Moscow describes as a “special military operation” in the eastern area of Ukraine’s Donbass region to defend Russian sovereignty and territorial integrity against what Moscow says is a war waged against it by the U.S.-led NATO military alliance.

“Those heroes who liberated Soledar and Artemovsk (Bakhmut), towns and villages of Donbass, fought and gave their lives for Novorossiya, for the unity of the Russian world. Their name and glory have also been betrayed by those who are trying to organize a rebellion, pushing the country toward anarchy and fratricide, to defeat, ultimately, and capitulation," the Russian leader remarked.

In essence, Putin has said he would do everything to protect Russia, and that "decisive action" would be taken to stabilize the situation in Rostov-on-Don.

Prigozhin will find it difficult to infiltrate into the Russian military. The governor of Russia's Voronezh says that the army was already taking "necessary military measures" in the South Western region where Wagner fighters are located.

Shortly later, he said traffic had resumed in Rostov-On-Don, including public transport in the city center.

The Wagner group is not armed enough to take on the Russian military. 

The rebellion by the Wagner group comes as Ukraine, which has received the most Western military assistance in modern history, has launched an unsuccessful counteroffensive against Russia. Citing Western and military officials, CNN said the “early stages of Ukraine’s long awaited and carefully planned counteroffensive is not meeting expectations on any front”.

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