Videos have emerged showing Chenchen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s Akhmat special forces outside Rostov.

Earlier in the day, Ramzan Kadyrov said his forces were ready to help put down a mutiny by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Saturday that he has finally published a statement on the standoff between Wagner and Russia’s defense ministry, criticizing the mercenary organization and promising to employ severe tactics if necessary to put down the mutiny led by outfit chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

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Heavy-armed militants from Prigozhin’s Wagner militia organization were in charge of the streets of Rostov-on-Don, a city of more than a million people near the Ukrainian border, in Russia’s first armed insurgency since the Chechen wars 20 years ago.

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to quell what he dubbed an armed revolt after mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private army seized control of a southern city in an attempt to destabilise the military leadership.

After leading his soldiers into Russia from Ukraine, Prigozhin claimed to have captured the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District there. The city serves as Russia’s key rear logistical hub for the invading army.

“Excessive ambitions and vested interests have resulted in treason,” Putin said in a televised address, describing the mutiny as a “stab in the back.”

“It is a setback for Russia and our people.” And our responses to such a threat to the Fatherland will be stern.”

Also Read: Wagner Group rebellion against Putin in Russia compared to Taliban takeover of Afghanistan

“All those who deliberately chose the path of betrayal, who planned an armed insurgency, who used blackmail and terrorist methods will face unavoidable punishment, and will answer both to the law and to our people,” Putin stated.

In a flurry of texts sent overnight, Prigozhin demanded that Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov meet with him in Rostov. Western capitals indicated they were keeping a careful eye on the situation in nuclear-armed Russia. President Joe Biden was briefed, according to the White House.