we have seen wagnerfighters heading app. lots and folding.re to moscow. much more honest still to come. stick with us on bbc news. this is bbc news. the headlines: vladimir putin says russia is facing a battle for its future — in the face of what he called an "armed mutiny" in the country. a convoy of wagner mercinary fighters appears to be heading for moscow — after launching a rebellion against the russian military. website and the bbc news bbc news website and the bbc news app. lots and folding. we have seen wagnerfighters heading app. lots and folding. we have seen wagner fighters heading from this area, 500 kilometres, 500 more to moscow. much more honest still to come. stick with us on bbc news. this is bbc news. the headlines: vladimir putin says russia is facing a battle for its future — in the face of what he called an "armed mutiny" in the country. a convoy of wagner mercinary fighters appears to be heading for moscow — after launching a rebellion against the russian military. with the convoy reportedly a few hundred kilometres sout

these are wagnerfighters in soon move beyond it.fighters in syria, as russia's military was doing too. there are multiple reports of wagner activity in africa, including libya, mali, the central african republic, sudan, mozambique and madagascar and its activities are varied. madagascar and its activities are varied-— are varied. everyone has all kinds of _ are varied. everyone has all kinds of activities _ are varied. everyone has all kinds of activities that - are varied. everyone has all kinds of activities that they | kinds of activities that they engaging in in sub—saharan africa, especially that's security, that's weapons provision, that's training, natural resource extraction. they kinda run the gamut. this is a highly _ they kinda run the gamut. this is a highly lucrative. _ they kinda run the gamut. this is a highly lucrative. for example politico reports that in the central african republic it with the profits saw almost $1 billion and these activities are notjust lucrative. you accuses wagner of committing: —— the accuses

the wagnerfighters pulling out of rostov last night. you'd think they'd just won a war. the mercenary group, yevgeny prigozhin, was off too. he'd just done a deal with the kremlin to end their mutiny. the rebellion started here then spread north. it was the biggest challenge to vladimir putin's authority since he came to power. vladimir vladimirovich putin. russia's commander in chief likes to project an image of strength. a mutiny on his watch is embarrassing. but is it damaging? for vladimir putin, will there be political fallout ahead of next year's election? he definitely looks weaker. all elite groups will begin to think about the presidency 202a. should they rely, as they did even one week before, this military coup, on vladimir putin? or should they think about someone new? but there's no sign yet that someone new in the kremlin is mr putin's plan. vladimir putin is determined to show that he is in charge, in control in the kremlin, and he has the russian state media to help him paint that picture. the trouble is, the dramatic events of the last couple of days hav

unfortunately due to wagnerfighters.lt to rely on independent reporting from russia, which is almost nonexistent. and we are going to say goodbye in a moment to our world audience, but we will continue our coverage. russian state television channels have largely kept to normal programming throughout the weekend, and their schedules have maintained, but there are some special bulletins. you are watching bbc news, goodbye to our world news audiences. 0k, watching bbc news, goodbye to our world news audiences. ok, let's hear from the newsroom. in fat i would like to add to all this coverage but in the beginning of all this advance of prigozhin, they were unfolding at the same time as ukraine was under a massive air strike, 41 russian cruise missiles and attack drones were intercepted, according to the authorities. in several capitals, and cities, there were explosions and cities, there were explosions and in kyiv, a missile hit a residential area, two people died. this isjust to residential area, two people died. this is ju

the wagnerfighters pulling out of rostov last night. you think theyjust won a war?yjust won a war. the leader of the mercenary group, yevgeny prigozhin, was off to. he'd just done a deal with the kremlin to end their mutiny. the rebellion started here, then spread north. it was the biggest challenge to vladimir putin's authority since he came to power. vladimir vladimirovich putin. russia's commander in chief likes to project an image of strength. a mutiny on his watch is embarrassing. but is it damaging? for vladimir putin, will there be political fallout ahead of next year's election? he definitely looks weaker. all elite groups will begin to think about the presidency 202a. should they rely, as they did even one week before this military coup, on vladimir putin? or should they think about someone new? but there's no sign yet that someone new in the kremlin is mr putin's plan. vladimir putin is determined to show that he is in charge, in control in the kremlin, and he has the russian state media to help him paint that picture. the trouble is, the dramatic events o

what you against yevgeny prigozhin where the wagnerfighters.evgeny prigozhin where the wagner fighters. what you make of that? do you think really is going to be the case?— to be the case? well, it is certainly _ to be the case? well, it is certainly what _ to be the case? well, it is certainly what the - to be the case? well, it isj certainly what the kremlin to be the case? well, it is - certainly what the kremlin are saying. they are saying that the case for an armed insurrection has been or will be closed. but there will be no criminal prosecution of yevgeny prigozhin and presumably that means for all of his fighters, too. i mean, i have to sayi that means for all of his fighters, too. i mean, i have to say i was extremely surprised when i heard that because it is not in character for vladimir putin. it is not in character for the for vladimir putin. it is not in characterfor the legal for vladimir putin. it is not in character for the legal system as a whole in russia which is highly politically controlled. for him to sort of step back lik

, including their wagner fighters, including their leader, wagnerfighters, including their leader, yevgenyon in exchange for ending the rebellion. steve, thank you very much. well, the movements of the wagner group leader, yevgeny prigozhin, have been closely watched since that attempted mutiny on saturday. his plane has been seen in minsk, the capital of belarus, where he has been ordered to live in exile. nick beake from bbc verify has been examining the details. if you've been accused of launching a military coup against a country with the most amount of nuclear weapons in the world, you can imagine quite a lot of people will be quite interested to know where you are. and the big question is, where is this man, yevgeny prigozhin, the head of the wagner unit? there's been no sign of the man himself, but here at bbc verify, we've been working on what we think is probably the next best thing at the moment, that is a private jet linked to him. for the past 2a hours, we've been looking at various flights that have been taking off and landing. i want to show you this one this morning. it took

had come underfire and some 30 wagner fighters had his position had come underfire and some 30 wagnerfighterssee any proof of it when the allegations were made. he was saying that wagner fighters were prepared to come to rostov to hand over the hardware, to give up, but then they were attacked. he said they were fired at and shelled and missiles were fired, and then helicopters turned against them, and thatis helicopters turned against them, and that is when they decided the only way to make their protests known was to stop the mosque on moscow. confusing as to what is motives were —— the march on moscow. on saturday, the kremlin said criminal charges had been dropped against him and wagner as part of the deal done to stop this mutiny. today we heard reports that the prosecutor had actually kept that pace open. he didn't address that at all in this long audio message, but it is problem why he is lying low and we don't know where he is.— don't know where he is. sarah, we will leave it _ don't know where he is. sarah, we will leave it there _ don't know where he is. sarah, we will leave it ther

putin praises the wagnerfighters were —— anna camilla.lation: ., , translation: civic solidarity has shown — translation: civic solidarity has shown any _ translation: civic solidarity has shown any blackmail, - translation: civic solidarity has shown any blackmail, anyj has shown any blackmail, any attempt to

meanwhile, wagnerfighters return to their bases. is bbc news,

the us estimates that around 10,000 wagnerfighters have died in ukraine since december and the majorityson last september. he is telling these men their sentences will be quashed if they fight for wagner. many of them went to war and as wagner's death toll has spiralled, prigozhin's relationship with the russian defence ministry had deteriorated. he's posted furious rants on the messaging app telegram and in early may, surrounded by corpses of his fighters, he took aim again. shoigu is russia's defence minister. gerasimov is the head of the armed forces. and prigozhin has a reputation for this kind of furious outburst and also brutality, for example this was his reaction when in november, a wagner defector was allegedly killed with a sledgehammer. yevgeny prigozhin said a dog meets a dog's death. he did not condemn it. he then began to use the image of a sledgehammer as a trophy image. and prigozhin's lawlessness is nothing new. in 1981 he was sent to prison for robbery and theft. when released in 1990, he became a hot dog salesman in saint petersburg, but by 1997, he was running a top

the us estimates that around 10,000 wagnerfighters have died in ukraine since december and the majorityigozhin at a prison last september. he is telling these men their sentences will be quashed if they fight for wagner. many of them went to war and as wagner's death toll has spiralled, prigozhin�*s relationship with the russian defence ministry had deteriorated. he's posted furious rants on the messaging app shoigu is russia's defence minister. gerasimov is the head of the armed forces. and prigozhin has a reputation for this kind of furious outburst and also brutality, for example this was his reaction when in november, a wagner defector was allegedly killed with a sledgehammer. yevgeny prigozhin said a dog meets a dog's death. he did not condemn it. he then began to use the image of a sledgehammer as a trophy image. and prigozhin�*s lawlessness is nothing new. in 1981 he was sent to prison for robbery and theft. when released in 1990, he became a hot dog salesman in saint petersburg, but by 1997, he was running a top restaurant and began winning lucrative catering contracts. these br

the us estimates that around 10,000 wagnerfighters have died in ukraine since december and the majorityigozhin at a prison last september. he is telling these men their sentences will be quashed if they fight for wagner. many of them went to war and as wagner's death toll has spiralled, prigozhin�*s relationship with the russian defence ministry had deteriorated. he's posted furious rants on the messaging app telegram and in early may, surrounded by corpses of his fighters, he took aim again. shoigu is russia's defence minister. gerasimov is the head of the armed forces. and prigozhin has a reputation for this kind of furious outburst and also brutality, for example this was his reaction when in november, a wagner defector was allegedly killed with a sledgehammer. yevgeny prigozhin said a dog meets a dog's death. he did not condemn it. he then began to use the image of a sledgehammer as a trophy image. and prigozhin�*s lawlessness is nothing new. in 1981 he was sent to prison for robbery and theft. when released in 1990, he became a hot dog salesman in saint petersburg, but by 1997, he

the us estimates that around 10,000 wagnerfighters have died in ukraine since december and the majoritys prigozhin at a prison last september. he is telling these men their sentences will be quashed if they fight for wagner. many of them went to war and as wagner's death toll has spiralled, prigozhin�*s relationship with the russian defence ministry had deteriorated. he's posted furious rants on the messaging app telegram and in early may, surrounded by corpses of his fighters, he took aim again. shoigu is russia's defence minister. gerasimov is the head of the armed forces. and prigozhin has a reputation for this kind of furious outburst and also brutality, for example this was his reaction when in november, a wagner defector was allegedly killed with a sledgehammer. yevgeny prigozhin said a dog meets a dog's death. he did not condemn it. he then began to use the image of a sledgehammer as a trophy image. and prigozhin�*s lawlessness is nothing new. in 1981 he was sent to prison for robbery and theft. when released in 1990, he became a hot dog salesman in saint petersburg, but by 1997,

preparing to leave rostov tonight, wagnerfighters got quite a send—off. celebrating what they clearly see as a victory after a day of drama. let's take a closer look at the man who called for the rebellion. yevgeny prigozhin — and the group of mercenary soldiers he leads known as the wagner group. our security correspondent gordon corera has more details. yevgeny prigozhin outside russian military headquarters in rostov—on—don this morning, boasting his wagner group have taken it without firing a shot. butjust who is this man challenging russia's leaders? prigozhin began as a criminal from st petersburg. after leaving jail, he began selling hot dogs, but then graduated to running expensive restaurants. he caught the attention of russia's leader, leading him to be known as putin's chef. he catered to world leaders when they visited, even america's president, but also became rich from lucrative military contracts. about a decade ago he began to carry out operations around the world on behalf of the kremlin, even interfering in america's 2016 election. but p

as we be the next destination of these wagnerfighters.rection to the field camps, according to the plan. his fighters had been advancing on moscow. an agreement to de—escalate was reached after negotiations with belarus' pro—putin leader. vladimir putin said russia was facing a battle for its future, calling the rebellion and armed mutiny. ukraine's president zelensky says the rebellion exposed the weakness of the russian government and accuses putin of running scared. welcome to our continuing coverage of the unrest in russia. we start with that dramatic breaking news in an extraordinary day in russia. the leader of the wagner group, yevgeny prigozhin, has ordered his mercenaries to turn around and return to their bases to avoid bloodshed. a huge convoy had been heading towards moscow in what vladimir putin had described as an attempted mutiny. in an audio message posted on the social media site telegram, prigozhin said the time had come to stand down. take a listen to this english translation of his message. translation: they wanted to

i mean, the russian government essentially said that wagnerfighters could go to belarus.think we could still see prigozhin move against putin again? i think that that's unlikely. i think that what we saw over the weekend was much more an appeal to authority, albeit in a very dramatic and naked show of force, but, nonetheless, not — not necessarily a coup. i don't think that prigozhin was trying to oust putin. i think that he was trying to show his own importance and dangerousness to putin in order to oust his internal rivals, as your team has stated earlier, shoigu and gerasimov. i think events somewhat got out of control and ahead of even what prigozhin himself was expecting. and i'm not sure that either he or his — those who serve under him would be up necessarily for another go at it from belarus. john lechner, thank you so much for speaking with us tonight. thanks for having me. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. voiceover: bbc news, bringing you different stories from across the uk. it was one of the falklands war�*s bloodiest days. the bombing of

the us estimates that around 10,000 wagnerfighters have died in ukraine since december and the majoritylast september. he is telling these men their sentences will be quashed if they fight for wagner. many of them went to war and as wagner's death toll has spiralled, prigozhin's relationship with the russian defence ministry had deteriorated. he's posted furious rants on the messaging app telegram and in early may, surrounded by corpses of his fighters, he took aim again. shoigu is russia's defence minister. gerasimov is the head of the armed forces. and prigozhin has a reputation for this kind of furious outburst and also brutality, for example this was his reaction when in november, a wagner defector was allegedly killed with a sledgehammer. yevgeny prigozhin said a dog meets a dog's death. he did not condemn it. he then began to use the image of a sledgehammer as a trophy image. and prigozhin's lawlessness is nothing new. in 1981 he was sent to prison for robbery and theft. when released in 1990, he became a hot dog salesman in saint petersburg, but by 1997, he was running a top rest

wagnerfighters came across ukraine into russia, they entered rostov, the big regional capital in southern 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. for more on the geography of these latest developments, we can cross live now to our reporter nicky schiller who is in the newsroom. as you say, geography in understanding the story is very important so i want to give you an idea of some of the places we have been talking about over the last couple of hours. here you can see a map of ukraine with kyiv marked and also russia with moscow and we have also russia with moscow and we have a crime yet down here. i want to draw your attention to this red area on the map. that is an area that we believe of ukraine is controlled by the russian military. that probably included the wagner mercenaries because they have been fighting the counteroffensive that has been going on in this area with ukrainian forces. the other place we have been

another question is what wagnerfighters himself.hat is another subject to watch.- betrayed by their leader so that is another subject to watch. lord dannatt is a former head of the british army. hejoins me now from norfolk. thank you for doing so. give us a sense of context as to the destabilising nature of the events because of the parts of the world we sometimes see uprisings over pay issues for a garrison or barix and that gets suppressed quickly and gets resolved but this strikes me as something far more existential, significant parts of the russian military machine which have been very effective in ukraine marching out of the capital moscow. this will surely send reverberations through the state of the authorities but also through the military itself and the people fighting on their behalf? i think you are right as far as that is concerned but we must remember yevgeny prigozhin it was fighting ostensibly not to try and top of vladimir putin but to have a crack at the defence minister sergei shoigu and the defence minister valer

the us estimates that around 10,000 wagnerfighters have died in ukraine since december and the majorityson last september. he is telling these men their sentences will be quashed if they fight for wagner. many of them went to war and as wagner's death toll has spiralled, prigozhin�*s relationship with the russian defence ministry had deteriorated. he's posted furious rants on the messaging app telegram and in early may, surrounded by corpses of his fighters, he took aim again. shoigu is russia's defence minister. gerasimov is the head of the armed forces. and prigozhin has a reputation for this kind of furious outburst and also brutality, for example this was his reaction when in november, a wagner defector was allegedly killed with a sledgehammer. yevgeny prigozhin said a dog meets a dog's death. he did not condemn it. he then began to use the image of a sledgehammer as a trophy image. and prigozhin�*s lawlessness is nothing new. in 1981 he was sent to prison for robbery and theft. when released in 1990, he became a hot dog salesman in saint petersburg, but by 1997, he was running a to

wagnerfighters came across from ukraine into russia, they entered rostov, the big regional capital initary sites there. some reports say they are now moving north. mr prigozhin says 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. for more on the geography of these latest developments, we can cross live now to our reporter nicky schiller who is in the newsroom. yes, geography is very key in all of what we have been talking about if the last couple of hours and we have been mentioning a lot of cities so i thought it would be a good idea to show you exactly where they are. here we have a map of ukraine and you can see kyiv marked and we have russia with moscow and down here is crimea. want to draw this attention to this red area. this is the area we think is under russian military control and until yesterday, that could have included the wagner operation as well, because they have been fighting with the russian forces in this area with the ukraine counteroffensive that has been going on. the other

russia for belarus, and the kremlin have said it will not pursue punishment against him or his wagnerfighters about what happened. well, to unpack some of them, i'm joined now by a panel of experts. joining me live are vitaly shevchenko, who is from bbc monitoring in the newsroom with me in london. meanwhile, jade mcglynn is a researcher at the war studies department at king's college london. jade is also the author of memory makers, the politics of the past in russia and russia's war. she joins us from oxfordshire. and justin crump is a military veteran and chief executive of risk intelligence firm sibylline. thank you all so much forjoining us. vitaly, i want to start with you first, please. a key question we are getting from viewers here bbc news is, just remind us exactly what is happening in russia right now. well, there is a certain sense of things de—escalating and tensions easing in russia. we are seeing reports from various regions in south—western russia of restrictions being lifted, particularly restrictions on traffic, the roads being reopened and in rostov, which is the biggest,

point quite drastically was the clip of prigozhin with many bodies behind him, dead bodies of wagnerfightersthe merchant between him and the russian ministry of defence has been growing for a while. —— the message between him. him and his units marching towards moscow.— him. him and his units marching towards moscow. thank you so much for “oininr towards moscow. thank you so much forjoining us— towards moscow. thank you so much forjoining us and _ towards moscow. thank you so much forjoining us and for— towards moscow. thank you so much forjoining us and for breaking - towards moscow. thank you so much forjoining us and for breaking all - forjoining us and for breaking all that down for us and of course we do have a live page with the latest updates of developments and i can just see another alert that has come on in the last few minutes saying that the wagner are inching towards the russian capital, that throughout the russian capital, that throughout the day, wagner troops appear to have been moving north towards moscow as we have been reporting and talking to our guests. let's see if we c

leave russia for belarus, and the kremlin has said it will not pursue punishment against him or wagnerfighterst there are many questions unanswered about what's happened. to help unpack some of these i'm joined now by a panel of experts. joining me live are vitaly shevchenko, who is from bbc monitoring, jade mcglynn is a researcher at the war studies department at king 5 college london. she's also the author of memory makers: the politics of the past in russia and russia 5 war. she joins us from oxfordshire. justin crump is a military veteran and chief executive of the risk intelligence firm. sib-line a key question we are getting from viewers on bbc news isjust remind us exactly what is happening in russia right now.— us exactly what is happening in russia right now. there is a certain sense of things _ russia right now. there is a certain sense of things the _ russia right now. there is a certain sense of things the escalating - russia right now. there is a certain sense of things the escalating and l sense of things the escalating and tensions easing in russia. we are seeing reports from va

president putin ha been on state tv in russia tonight praising the wagnerfighters, thanking them forg down on saturday to "avoid bloodshed". and, although he didn't mention the leader of the weekend's aborted mutiny, yevgeny prigozhin, by name, he did say its leaders would be brought tojustice. nothing is normal in moscow and most observers inside russia and beyond now believe president putin is more vulnerable in his two—decade rule than he ever has been. no one knows what the events over the last 48 hours might lead to. so, three days into this extraordanary crisis for the kremlin, tonight we ask what the pressure on president putin means for the world and for all of us. prigozhin�*s social media videos on friday were a declaration of mutiny, but the fact he also attacked present putting led some people to think it was a clue. —— a coup. but, from the moment he arrived at the army centre in rostov on don, he was treated as simply with a grievance rather than trying to seize ultimate power of the top generals engaged with prigozhin and nobody initially attacked his forces.— attacked

belarus and not be prosecuted and wagner fighters who had taken belarus and not be prosecuted and wagnerfighters end of the potential confrontation. and now we are trying to sift through all of this and work out what it was and what it means for vladimir putin and yevgeny prigozhin. for vladimir putin and yevgeny priaozhin. , ., ., prigozhin. tell us about prigozhin. we discussed _ prigozhin. tell us about prigozhin. we discussed him _ prigozhin. tell us about prigozhin. we discussed him with _ prigozhin. tell us about prigozhin. we discussed him with the - prigozhin. tell us about prigozhin. | we discussed him with the russian ambassador in the uk a couple of weeks ago but he's become a hugely important figure. can you describe what he is and what he represents. he is a hugely colourful figure and this is the one who started off in the 1990s in st petersburg selling hot and then became a restaurant her, got a catering business, got government contracts with that and went from food into fixing for the kremlin, so he became a kind of shady mrfix it kremlin, so he became a kind of shady mr fix it

yes, just a few hours ago, it seemed as if wagnerfighters yes, just a few hours ago, it seemed as ifner fighters were on their way to moscow and there seem to be a real danger of confrontation because of that. but in russia things can change part and, for whatever reason, they did so today. this is how the day began. in the russian city of rostov, armed men and armour on the streets. and thanks outside key buildings. and tanks outside key buildings. in control here, the mercenary group wagner, closely linked to the state. they'd fought for russia and ukraine. but this looked like mutiny. their leader, yevgeny prigozhin, seemed to have gone rogue after his feud with the russian defence ministry boiled over — over how the war in ukraine is being fought. at a military hq he told russian generals, "we've come for "the defence minister and the chief of the general staff. "if we don't get them, i'll blockade the city and "head to moscow". this was treachery, said the kremlin. a stab in the back of russia. translation: our actions to defend the fatherland from this _ threat will be harsh. e

all the waggoner fighters, we don't know what steps president putin will be taking this week —— wagnerfighterss week —— wagner fighters, what steps presentation will be taking to perhaps exact some revenge because clearly prigozhin was expecting some more support in moscow. this is my sense of it, anyway, that he would have been expecting some support, obvious i got a lot of support from the russian army on the way but whatever was happening in moscow was not happening for him.— not happening for him. president putin does not _ not happening for him. president putin does not like _ not happening for him. president putin does not like news - not happening for him. president putin does not like news across l not happening for him. president - putin does not like news across him, prigozhin would be well advised to watch his back.— prigozhin would be well advised to watch his back. indeed he would, i would not drink— watch his back. indeed he would, i would not drink any _ watch his back. indeed he would, i would not drink any tier— watch his back. indeed he would, i would not drink any tier stand

tv address, mr putin said the leaders of the uprising would be brought tojustice, but regular wagnerfightersould join the russian army, return to theirfamilies or go to belarus. graham satchell reports. vladimir putin has not been seen since saturday, but late last night he called a meeting of his security chiefs. in an address to the nation he thanked the russian people for standing up to what he called treachery. translation: it was the patriotism l of our citizens, the consolidation l of the whole of russian society, that played the decisive role in these events. this support helped us overcome the most difficult challenges that our motherland faced. thank you for this. the dramatic events of the weekend saw tanks on the streets as the mercenary group wagner seized towns in southern russia, and then headed for moscow. it looked at one stage like a full—scale military coup. but as suddenly as it started, it stopped. now wagner's leader, yevgeny prigozhin, has released a message on social media. he hadn't tried to overthrow russia's government, he said. it was just a protest to stop wagner