is a blow to russia, a blow to our people and our actions to defend the state against this threat will be harsh. this was the scene in rostov earlier this morning where wagner forces apparently surrounded a military building. in a video released by wagner — yevgeny prigozhin is heard telling russian military officials he wants to speak to the defence minister — or they'll move towards moscow. you're watching bbc news. hello, i'm gareth barlow. president vladimir putin has said that russia is facing an armed mutiny. it follows a major challenge from the head of the wagner mercenary group.

mr putin warned of a harsh response to threats including what he called blackmail and terrorist methods. he admitted that russian forces were not in control of the key city of rostov—on—don. in a moment, we'll play you mr putin's television address to the russian people. but first, what's led up to this? tanks and armoured vehicles have taken up positions in the southern russian city of rostov—on—don, as a dispute between the army and the wagner mercenary group threatens to degenerate into fighting. wagner troops also appear to be taking action in the voronezh region, which lies half way between rostov and moscow. a wagner military force has been seen passing the city heading to moscow. and an arms dump there has been set on fire. these pictures released form the wagner military group purport to show ngeny prigozhin with armed men in rostov. they say these pictures are taken at the southern military district headquarters in rostov and that he is arguing with deputy defence minister yunus—bek yevkurov and general vladimir alexeyev. the bbc is unable to verify the location of these pictures. earlier the kremlin ordered the arrest of yevgeny prigozhin —

whose men have been fighting alongside russian forces in ukraine — after he accused the russian military of carrying out a deadly missile strike on wagner troops in ukraine, which the defence ministry denies. anti—terror measures have been introduced in moscow, with armoured vehicles seen on the streets. here's mr putin's television address to the russian nation. translation: and the actions that split us - is a betrayal of your people, betrayal of the comrades that are fighting on the front line a knife in the back of our people. and this struck russia in 1917 when russia was waging the first world war. victory was stolen from it. politicking behind the back of the army and the people turned into a huge upheaval.

the destruction of the army and the state, the loss of huge territories. as a result was tragedy. russians killing russians. civil war, and benefit was derived by various political adventurers, foreign powers that are tearing the country apart. we shall not let this happen again. we will defend our people, and our state, including against internal strife and betrayal. and that's what we're facing. betrayal. and when personal ambitions take over the country, over faith in your own people and the cause for which the soldiers of the wagner group are fighting shoulder to shoulder,

those who liberated, the villages and towns of donbas, they fought and gave their lives for the new novorossiya and new russia, giving their lives. and this is the bitter betrayal by those who are pushing the country to anarchy and fratricide. defeat, ultimately. and capitulation. i shall repeat. any internal mutiny is a serious threat to our state, our nation. it is a blow to russia, a blow to our people. and our actions to defend the state against this threat will be harsh. those who consciously chose treason, blackmail and terrorist methods will be inevitably punished. they will answer before the law and before our people. the armed forces and other state

authorities have received the necessary orders. additional measures of an anti—terrorist nature are now in force in moscow, moscow region and other regions. resolute action will be taken to stabilise the situation in rostov—on—don. it remains difficult. in fact, this government and military administrations have been blocked. as the president of russia and the supreme commander in chief, as a citizen of russia, i shall do everything to defend the country, to defend the constitutional system, life and security, and the freedom of people. those who organised and prepared the armed mutiny, those who took up arms against their comrades have betrayed russia and will answer for it. that was vladimir putin's addressed to the russian nation.

unsurprisingly the events in russia are fast moving. we are following them as closely as we can, including with some of our partner news agencies. this is coming from reuters. it is citing a witness, saying that russian military helicopters opened fire on the wagner military convoy on the m4 highway outside of the city of voronezh. that and for highway connects rostov on don to moscow. we had from russian authorities that that highway had been closed because they had their own military convoy processing down it. we also have these reports of this large fire, an explosion at this depot in voronezh, which is being attended to by over 100 firefighters and 30 vehicles. this is from the reuters news agency, they are citing a witness. the bbc is unable to independently verify this, but reports that russian army helicopters have opened

fire on wagner military convoys along the m4 highway. we do know for certain that the uk government's emergency cobra committee is meeting to discuss the situation in russia. we heard earlier from to discuss the situation in russia. we heard earlierfrom rishi sunak. he is expecting to speak to other international allies later today. that is the uk government's emergency meeting, cobra, to discuss the situation in russia. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, is in moscow — he detailed the timeline of events over the last 2a hours. 16 months ago today, vladimir putin addressed the russian nation to announce the start of the so—called special military operation, the full—scale invasion of ukraine. and, at the time, he looked supremely confident. well, 16 months on, once again, president putin has addressed the russian people in very different circumstances, with russia facing an armed mutiny.

and, i think, for vladimir putin, it was important to go on television, to try and show the russian people that he is in charge, that he is in control of the situation, his address was full of references to treachery, betrayal. he betrayed what wagner is doing as a stab in the back for the country, and the russian people. now, that is something that yevgeny prigozhin, the wagner chief, disagrees with. wagner fighters came across ukraine into russia, they entered rostov, the big regional capital in southern russia, and have taken control of military sites there. and, some reports say that they are moving north. mr prigozhin says that his beef is with the russian military, not so much with the kremlin. and, it looks like he wants to topple the russian military leadership. the british government's emergency cobra committee will meet to discuss the situation in russia. prime minister, rishi sunak,

has been asked about it by the bbc�*s laura kuenssberg. prime minister, what is happening in russia is clearly significant. do you think this might be a coup against vladimir putin? we have been monitoring the potentially destabilising impact of russia's illegal war in ukraine. we are keeping a close eye on the situation as it is evolving on the ground as we speak. we are in touch with our allies and i will be speaking to some of them later today. the most important thing i would say is for all parties to be responsible and to protect civilians, and that is about as much as i can say at this moment. the ministry of defence has said online this is the most significant threat to the russian state in recent times. is that right? how do you see it? we have been monitoring for a while the potential of russia's illegal invasion of ukraine to be destabilising, and you have seen the situation as it is developing. we are keeping an eye on it and we are in touch with our allies. i will be speaking to some of them later today and the most important

thing is for all parties to behave responsibly and to protect civilian lives. is it good news or bad news, that vladimir putin has been challenged? it is an evolving situation and the right thing at this juncture is to make sure we are on top of it, that we are in touch with our allies, which we are, and i will be speaking to them later today, and that we call on all parties to exercise responsibility and to protect civilian lives. that is the most important thing for us in the uk to be doing. have you heard from president zelensky about what's going on? i am in touch with our allies and i will be speaking to them later today. you would expect us to be coordinated in a situation like this. it is evolving as we speak. if there are british citizens remaining in moscow, or in russia, for example we know a lot of people have left, but do you have advice for british citizens in russia? we have had long—standing travel advice against travel to russia, that is on the foreign office website _ people should check that. we have long—standing advice

against travel to russia for the obvious reasons, but people should keep checking the foreign office website for updates. there will be more of that interview tomorrow on the laura kuenssberg programme. ijust want i just want to remind you ijust want to remind you of i just want to remind you of the witness saying that russian military helicopters have fired on wagner vehicles. voronezh is along that for highway, about halfway between the two cities, rostov on don, home to about 1.1 million people, voronezhjust slightly further north of that on the way to moscow. we heard that they had close that highway as they had their own military using the roadway. this is helicopters, russian army helicopters, reportedly opening fire on wagner mercenary convoy on that highway. this is

according to reuters news agency, citing a witness. the bbc is unable to independently verify those details. a couple of other things of note, whilst all this is happening, fighting is still ongoing in ukraine. three people were killed in the ukrainian capital, kyiv, after a 25—storey building was partially destroyed. that is according to the authorities. they described it as a powerful overnight attack. russian missiles across ukraine. there were also further casualties in the city of dnipro. wagnerforces have been crucial in some of the fighting that has been taking place in ukraine, in particular around the city of bakhmut, when they battled for months to control that city, a city renowned for its salt mines. not particularly strategically important, but hugely symbolically so. let's show you some of the pictures of the streets of rostov on

don. this is the key city that we are focusing on at the moment today, that wagner forces have been progressing on to. we can see heavily armed soldiers, armoured personnel carriers, some vehicles are still on the streets, people going about their business, but obviously a very different site in the city. these forces that were crucial in the fight against ukrainian military forces in and around bakhmut. ukrainian military forces in and around bakhmut. this video was shared earlier today on the telegram account of a company linked to the chief of the russian mercenary group wagner — yevgeny prigozhin. in it, he denies moscow's claims that wagner's work hs caused things that wagner's work has caused things to �*crumble' on the frontline. the main commanding centre is functioning as normal, without any problems at all, not one officer has been pried away from their work, so when they tell you that the private military company

wagner has obstructed the work of the army, which resulted in things crumbling on the front, things will not crumble on the front because of this. when we came here, we reconfirmed a lot of new things, a huge amount of territories have been lost, soldiers have been killed, three, four, times more than it says in documents shown to the top leadership. daily losses go up to 1,000 people on some days, those are killed, missing, wounded, and the so—called refuseniks, who refuse, not because they are scared, as i have said, but because they have no choice, no ammunition, no control. the chief of general staff ran away from here when he found out that we were approaching the building. yevgeny percussion is notable for his close proximity with his relationship with president putin. earlier i asked professor mark galleotti — author of "putin's wars: from chechnya to ukraine" — about the relationship

between putin and prigozhin. in some ways the sense of distance is precisely because of the close proximity. we have got to understand that yevgeny prigozhin is essentially putin's invention, his creation, from when he was a restaurateur in the 1990s tips and instantly to spare, to the present day. his trajectory has been facilitated by putin. he regarded him as a useful instrument, whether in terms of trying to disrupt the american elections or running mercenaries. in some ways it is precisely because of this that both people are having to be a little bit more cautious about directly calling out the other. for yevgeny prigozhin it would be a nuclear option, and for putin it would be added an embarrassing admission that his creation has turned against him. is there any chance this is part of efforts by putin and the kremlin, and yevgeny prigozhin, to put the focus of blame on the military and

detract attention from putin. it would seem if it is, rather braised way of doing it, because intrinsically it does threaten the premiership of putin, it does make him look weak to some degree? i think for that reason we can rule it out. if putin wanted to sack his defence minister, his defence minister would be sacked. he has both the legal and practical political ability to do that. he can blame defeat on whoever he wants. the chief of general staff, the west, aliens. whoever. he doesn't need to go through this very dangerous and disruptive move. it is not only that it is affecting the front line, we see wagner withdrawn, there are talks of some of the paratroopers, who are kept in reserve, are being prepared just in case they need to defend moscow and take back rostov. it does disrupt the war effort. but this undermines putin's legitimacy within the elite as a whole. for all these reasons it would be an extraordinarily expensive and painfully roundabout

way of doing something that is actually simple. if, like you say, president putin created prigozhin and wagner. how do you go about trying to dismantle this threat that he created in the first place? at the moment we are in a wait and see phase. if anyone looks at the seizure of rostov, the local garrison, the local national guard force, which is parallel internal security army, they neither resisted wagner, nor have theyjoined wagner. everyone is worried, waiting for orders from above. no one wants to take initiative, this is not how the system works. when it comes down to it i suspect that will i suspect that we'll

see this essentially turn into a siege, that rostov will become besieged, and they will try to negotiate yevgeny prigozhin�*s surrender to the authorities. whether he will be willing to go quietly, way mill may be another quietly, may be another matter. that is plan a. using military force would be further down the list of options they would like to take. talks about the other leaders of state putin has access to? we have to realise that in many ways yevgeny prigozhin is in a weak position. he claims 25,000 troops. yevgeny prigozhin claims a lot of things that turn out to be not the case. maybe worldwide they have that many troops but currently a lot of them are deployed in africa. the real estimate for his figures in russia and ukraine were closer to 10,000. that is set against a whole parallel series of armies. his only real chance is that if there are major defections from the other forces to him.

this is, i think, where the other agencies come in. groups like the federal security service that you mentioned, which will be desperately looking for any signs of the soldiers getting together and saying, maybe yevgeny prigozhin has a point, or the national guard, this parallel alternative army, which will be looking to try to close routes, so that even if small groups of soldiers want to desert to wagner's site, they can't get to rostov. i think what we are beginning to see it as a whole panoply of what is, after all, an authoritarian police state, being mobilised to try to block off wagner, rather than actually, at this stage, to take wagner on face—to—face. wagner has been crucial in russia's full—scale operation on ukraine. it spent months grinding down forces and trying to capture bakhmut.

what does this latest situation in russia mean for ukraine? i think it is not going to be decisive, but it does help the russian war effort wagner has been reduced to a shadow of its former self. at its peak it had about 50,000 troops, many of those recruited from russia's labour camps. most of those are dead, wounded, and have or have returned to civilian life. wagner is much smaller. even if it isjust 10,000 troops, that is 10,000, on the whole, quite well—trained, battle—hardened veterans. they will be reconstituted after the meat grinder of bakhmut. this is so they can be used as reinforcements. not having wagner is in itself a loss. if other, again of the more professional troops, have to be

diverted to deal with wagner even just to bottle it up, every soldier that leaves the theatre for that purpose, is a soldier who is not there to resist the ukrainian counteroffensive. that is one of the many reasons why putin is so clearly and visibly angry at what he sees as betrayal. more breaking news. authorities in the lipetsk region. aborted people stay in. the situation in russia has been discussed with the european president council. for their part, latvia, the foreign minister says that border security has been strengthened and entry by russians into latvia will not be considered

by the authorities. they are the raking developments as we are getting on with regards to the situation in russia. president zelensky has also been reacting to the events in russia, saying that russia's weakness is obvious and that the longer russia keeps troops in ukraine, it was seymour chaos. first of all what i saw in kyiv this morning, almost everybody was following the news from russia. for many ukrainians, this scenario, which is now happening, unfolding in russia, was seen as realistic, as plausible. now people understand that these developments on the russian ground might have very high impact on the war, on the situation on the front line, and i have to acknowledge that there is a kind of hope that, even,

potentially, hypothetically, they might mean a quick end to this war. the first responses to what was called by the russian president, mutiny and russian, came from the secretary of the ukrainian security council. he is one of those from the ukrainian government who used to command on the developments during this war, and he said that he thinks that it is the beginning of the self—destruction of russia, that this situation might help ukraine to regain its territories and come back to the borders of 1991. it means the regaining of territories occupied by russia, including crimea,

and in general he provided a very optimistic view of this development in russia. the ukrainian president, by the way he highlighted the full—scale weakness of russia. he said that the longer russia continues war on ukraine on ukrainian ground, the more chaotic gets on its own ground. we are following these developments coming in from rostov on don and also from the cities of voronezh and lipetsk, where residents have been told to stay indoors. we are monitoring the progress of a reported wagner mercenary military column. a witness has said that russian military helicopters have fired on this military convoy. i want to show some live pictures of

moscow. there are two different images coming from moscow. we are hearing from a different news agency that river traffic has been stopped on the moscow river. follow all the developments here on bbc news, and also on our website. there is a life page bringing together all the insight, reporting and analysis, from expert guests and from our correspondence across the region. you can also find it on the bbc news of rostov on don as president putin app, you can also find it on the bbc news app, on your smartphone or tablet. i am gareth barlow, do stick with us on bbc news. we did not see a first day over 25 celsius until the very end of may but we made up for it thisjune. take a look at heathrow and aviemore where in london heathrow there has been 1a days so far thisjune.

the record is 17. aviemore, we have already got above the previous record of seven by two days and there's still the chance of both those figures to go higher this weekend as we draw in the humid airfrom the south ahead of fresher conditions behind these weather fronts which will bring a change through sunday. through today, still a bit of cloud, low cloud around western coasts of wales. a few sharp showers in northern scotland, isolated ones elsewhere. most drier, sunny spells are looking good for the prospect at lord's, queens and glastonbury but it's pretty hot and humid, 25 to 29, a very humid and uncomfortable night and start to sunday.

there is a change on the way. the fresher atlantic air starts to push in. which will bring heavy, thundery downpours in northern ireland through the morning, into western fringes. a few isolated thunderstorms before that arrives and still heavy showers in northern ireland but for the far south of england and wales, the chance of a shower is only a very small one. most places will stay dry, very hot and humid towards the south and east. 31, 32 celsius, much more comfortable west of scotland and northern ireland at 17, 18 degrees. that more comfortable air and will push to all into monday. overnight thunderstorms gradually clearing, a lot of sunshine to start monday. a few showers bring across scotland through the day, some heavy thundery and persistent rain to the west of northern ireland later on. isolated shower and sunshine turning hazy for england and wales during monday afternoon but temperatures close to where they should be for the stage injune. 17 to 23 degrees. they will be the same set of values we see through the rest of this coming week,

may be dropping a touch on some wetter spots. always drier and a bit warmer further south you are.

this is bbc news. the headlines: tanks are seen on the streets