Russian generals late on Friday accused Yevgeny Prigozhin, the outspoken mercenary tycoon, of trying to mount a coup against President Vladimir Putin, as the Russian authorities opened an investigation into Prigozhin for "organizing an armed rebellion.”
The long-running feud between Prigozhin and the Russian military over the war in Ukraine has now escalated into an open confrontation, setting up the biggest challenge to Putin’s authority since he launched his invasion of Ukraine 16 months ago.
Videos circulating widely on social media showed that military and national guard armored vehicles had been deployed in Moscow and the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, near the front line in Ukraine where Prigozhin’s fighters had been operating.
