The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, has just put out a statement on Telegram announcing that “a counter-terrorist operation regime has been declared in Moscow” and that Monday will be a “non-working day” to “minimise risks”.
He asked Muscovites to “refrain from travelling around the city as much as possible”.
“City services are on high alert,” he said.
Wagner mercenaries appear to be moving north from central regions of Russia, in the direction of the capital.
“The situation is difficult,” Moscow mayor Sobyanin said in his statement posted on Telegram.
He added that it’s possible some roads or neighbourhoods in the city will be closed to traffic.
The rebelling Wagner mercenary group says it has seized control of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, and reports suggest it also controls key sites in Voronezh, a city further north.
Wagner troops appear to be advancing in the direction of Moscow, and have been spotted as far north as the Lipetsk region – which is still hours from the capital.
Video from regions along their route appear to show explosions, and mercenary boss Prigozhin claims his convoys have been fired upon.
Travel has been restricted in a region bordering Moscow, while people in other areas such as Lipetsk have been urged not to leave their homes.
The Kremlin has rejected claims Putin has left Moscow, after his plane was spotted on a flight tracker heading north west.
And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has responded to the unfolding situation, saying: “Russia’s weakness is obvious.”
