Image source, .

The governor of the Kaluga region, which borders the federal area of the city of Moscow, has said that movement on the region's roads will be restricted in the areas bordering several nearby regions Tula, Bryansk, Oryol and Smolensk regions.

"Please refrain from traveling by private vehicle on these roads unless absolutely necessary," Vladislav Shapsha said on Telegram.

There is no suggestion that Wagner mercenaries, who have been spotted a way south of Moscow, are in Kaluga. But Wagner troops do appear to be moving north, roughly in the direction of the capital.

Countries around the world are reacting to the crisis unfolding in Russia - with its closest neighbours taking the most decisive steps.

Latvia - which saw an influx of Russians fleeing when the war in Ukraine began last year - has sealed its border with Russia. In a tweet, the Foreign Minister said entry for anyone leaving "due to current events" would not be considered for entry.

Estonia too has said it is beefing up security along its border, with Prime Minister Kaja Kallas adding that she was in “close touch” with her Latvian, Lithuanian and Finnish counterparts.

Many other countries - including Poland, the UK and the US - have also said they're closely monitoring the situation.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Let's take a step back and review what we know about the key people in Vladimir Putin's inner circle.

He has always relied on a deeply loyal entourage. The question is: Who has his ear now, during one of the most fateful moments of his presidency?

• Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu - is a long-time confidante of Putin but a lack of success in Ukraine may be leaving him isolated. It's Shoigu who Prigozhin, the Wagner chief, has been increasingly critical of.

• Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov- it was his job to invade Ukraine and complete the job fast. He's another leader Prigozhin wants gone.
• Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev- a Putin stalwart who worked with him in the KGB. Experts have described him as "the most hawkish hawk". The Security Council is a consultative body that is meant to formulate and manage security policies, but in reality answers to Putin.
• Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) Alexander Bortnikov - the FSB is the successor of the KGB and is Russia's domestic scurity service, akin to MI5 in the UK. It's responsible for counterintelligence, antiterrorism and surveillance of the military. It's also responsible for ex-Soviet Union countries, such as Ukraine.
• Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin - he's remained alongside the president for much of his career and runs the SVR which is in charge of intelligence and espionage outside of Russia.

• Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov- he is Russia's most senior diplomat but appears to have been sidelined over decisions on the Ukraine war.
• Chairwoman of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko- the Federation Council is also known as the Senate and voted to rubber stamp the deployment of Russian forces abroad, paving the way for invasion.
• Director of the National Guard Viktor Zolotov- a former Putin bodygaurd, Zolotov now heads Rosgvardia which is almost a personal army of Putin's. It's separate to the Russian Armed Forces and reports directly to the president.

Russian army demoralised while Wagner has spirit - John Simpsonpublished at 15:10 British Summer Time 24 June 2023

15:10 BST 24 June 2023

John Simpson
World Affairs Editor

The one word to best describe events is the one that Vladimir Putin used - mutiny.

But you have to remember it’s a mutiny by probably the most effective section of the entire Russian military operation.

The Wagner Group, although it’s often made up of people like former prisoners, has been welded together by its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin into a unit that has a very high sense of itself.

Whereas the Russian forces are often demoralised and mostly don’t want to be there. They have very good defences at the moment - but they are nervous of what the Ukrainian military can do to them.

They don’t have the kind of spirit that Prigozhin’s forces do.

There’s only 25,000 of the Wagner Group, but they may be able to get much further than they have already.

Verified information from the ground is relatively sparse, but nonetheless, Wagner troops appear to be moving north, in the direction of Moscow.

This morning, Wagner mercenaries were seen in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don; later, reports came that Wagner troops were in Voronezh, 560km (354 miles) north.

Now, the governor of the Lipetsk region, north of Voronezh, said Wagner troops are moving through the region.

Moscow lies only 400km (248 miles) north - take a look at the map below to orient yourself.

It's not clear how many troops Wagner has in each place, or how large the group seen in Lipetsk was.

Image source, .

The governor of the Lipetsk region, Igor Artamonov, has confirmed that Wagner is moving "equipment" in the region.

It is less than 400km from the region's capital to Moscow.

As we mentioned previously, a social media video - which the BBC verified - showed a Wagner convoy of armed vehicles travelling in the region of Lipetsk, which is located between the city of Voronezh and Moscow.

Writing on social media, Artamonov said: "Law enforcement agencies and authorities... are taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the population. The situation is under control."

Artamonov also reminded residents that "they are strongly advised not to leave their homes and avoid travelling by any means".

John Simpson
World Affairs Editor

It was really unwise of President Putin to allow Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to get into a violent argument with Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and army head Valery Gerasimov.

As things stand, Putin is angrily joining in the row, but Prigozhin is restricting it to Shoigu and Gerasimov.

The next stage could be between Prigozhin and Putin.

Prigozhin thinks Russia has organised the military operation in Ukraine badly. He still has a relationship with Putin, which I imagine he doesn’t want to completely throw out at this stage.

Prigozhin has spent a lot of time on the front line – he’s that kind of leader. He doesn’t sit back, like Shoigu does, and send out his orders. The Wagner leader likes to be right up there on the front line with his men.

He identifies very closely with them – even though he threatens them and sometimes kills them.

Mistaken, or deliberate, attacks over the last few months by Russian soldiers on the Wagner Group pushed Prigozhin over the edge.

Steve Rosenberg
BBC Russia editor

If you walk down the streets of Moscow today, it feels very calm, very relaxed.

The other thing you don't notice is heavy security.

It doesn't feel at the moment as if Russia is going to descend into civil war.

But things can change very quickly.

This is a huge problem that Vladimir Putin has to sort out.

Not only has he got a war going on in Ukraine, which he started, but he's now got this armed mutiny in his own country that he needs to sort out.

Location of Prigozhin’s meeting with Russia military leaders confirmedpublished at 14:09 British Summer Time 24 June 2023

14:09 BST 24 June 2023

A video posted this morning on a Telegram channel linked to the Wagner Group shows its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, meeting with Russia's Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov.

BBC Verify has used biometric facial comparison tools to confirm, with a high degree of confidence, the identity of Yevkurov.

Also present at the meeting with Prigozhin, according to the Telegram post, was Vladimir Stepanovich Alekseev, the deputy chief of Russia's military intelligence service. However, the image said to show him was too dark to confirm using biometric technology.

The meeting is said to have taken place at the headquarters of the Russian military’s Southern Military district in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.

The video shows the three men meeting underneath trees in a courtyard, but satellite imagery could not be used to confirm the location.

However, photos previously taken at a religious ceremony at the headquarters, and posted on a Russian military website, confirm that the meeting did indeed take place at the building.

We have tried to verify the timing of the meeting – claimed to have taken place on Saturday morning – but this has not yet been possible from the video.

Image source, EPA

Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told news agency TASS that the president is "working in the Kremlin" in Moscow. But, as Wagner mercenaries apparently try to make their way to the capital, the rumour mill on social media is in overdrive.

Some users have noted that Putin's plane - special aircraft Il-96-300PU - left Moscow at 14:16 (11:16 GMT), and headed north-west, according to the FlightRadar tracking service. The plane then apparently disappeared off the system near the city of Tver, north-west of Moscow.

But we have, of course, no way of knowing whether Putin was on that plane.

We do know that Putin reportedly spends a lot of time at his sprawling residence on Lake Valdai, located north-west of Moscow, and does apparently not permanently live in the capital.

Jaroslav Lukiv

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

The Wagner group is claiming to have taken control of all military facilities in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, and reports suggest it has taken sites in Voronezh - further north.

Rostov has played a key role since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Located close to the Ukraine border, Rostov - with a population of just one million - houses the main headquarters of Russia's Southern Military District.

Russian troops are often stationed in the city before being sent on to Ukraine.

The regional capital has also been an important logistics hub for armoury and fuel deliveries.

Voronezh - another regional capital not far from the Ukrainian border - is roughly the same size as Rostov.

The city lies halfway between Rostov and the capital Moscow, and is a major railway hub.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the powerful Wagner mercenary group, has called for a rebellion in Russia and launched what he calls a "march of justice". The UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) says his troops are "almost certainly aiming to get to Moscow".

It says that in the early hours of Saturday, Wagner forces crossed the border from Ukraine, where they have been fighting on the side of the Russians, and took control of the city of Rostov-on-Don.

This is a problem for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war, since a headquarters of Russia's invasion of Ukraine - the Russian Southern Military District command - is based in the city.

BBC News Russian sources also say Wagner mercenaries have seized military facilities in Voronezh, which is halfway between Rostov and Moscow - this video shows a huge explosion near the city.

In the last few minutes, our BBC Verify team has verified the location of video appearing to show a Wagner convoy of vehicles travelling on the M4 motorway, which links Voronezh and Moscow through the region of Lipetsk.

"We are little-by-little running out of popcorn,” jokes Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine's defence minister.

Sak has, like the rest of the world, been watching events unfold in Russia at an “unprecedented speed”.

Speaking to BBC World Service Newshour, Saks says just before Russia began its 2022 attack on Ukraine the world thought Russia had “the second most powerful army in the world”.

“Yesterday everybody knew that Russia was the second most powerful army in Ukraine and today we're seeing how... the Russian army is becoming the second most powerful army in Russia."

Sak believes events in Russia could be the start of something extremely significant. He says the Kremlin has been lying “for such a long time… about the losses of the Russian army” and that sooner or later the situation would “implode and lead to a civil war”.

“What we're seeing now in Russia is a civil war,” adds Sak.

Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has accused the Russian military of attacking his advancing troops.

In a previous post (below), we reported on a Wagner convoy that was spotted north of Voronezh, a city in which Wagner has reportedly seized military facilities.

"We were fired upon: first artillery strikes, and then from helicopters," Prigozhin said in a Telegram post, without giving evidence or specifying where the alleged attack happened.

We've been reporting that the rebelling Wagner Group mercenaries have claimed they now control Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia.

In a new audio message posted on Wagner's Telegram page, Yevgeny Prigozhin claims his troops took the city "without a single shot being fired [by us]".

He also claims residents of Rostov-on-Don were supporting his troops because of their continuing "justice march".

Russia's state-run media has broadcast footage apparently showing Rostov residents arguing with Wagner troops and urging them to obey orders by President Vladimir Putin.

The claims have not been independently verified.

Wagner convoy seen in region south of Moscowpublished at 13:13 British Summer Time 24 June 2023

13:13 BST 24 June 2023Breaking

Our BBC Verify team has verified a video showing a Wagner convoy of armed vehicles travelling on the M4 motorway, which links Voronezh and Moscow through the region of Lipetsk.

As we've mentioned, the governor of the Lipetsk region has asked residents to stay home and avoid travelling, either with public vehicles or on public transport.

Regional authorities in Lipetsk have said that all bus services in the region are cancelled until further notice.

Voronezh is one of two cities - the other being Rostov-on-Don, further south - in which Wagner mercenaries have reportedly seized key sites.

The situation in the region is fast moving, and we'll bring you more updates shortly.

We'll return to the latest developments from the ground in a second, but first, let's take a step back.

In February, David Aaronovitch and guests discussed the Wagner group in detail in an episode of BBC Radio 4's The Briefing Room.

The mercenary group has been responsible for much of Russia’s military success in Ukraine.

Earlier this year, the group took control of Soledar, a salt mine town in the east of the country.

But the battle for Soledar also showed the first signs of an emerging rift between Wagner's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the Kremlin.

Listen to the episode here.

Video shows huge explosion near Voronezhpublished at 12:56 British Summer Time 24 June 2023

12:56 BST 24 June 2023

A video has appeared on social media showing a helicopter and a big plume of smoke and flames at a fuel depot near Voronezh, which lies around halfway between Rostov and Moscow on the M4 motorway.

The video has been verified by our BBC Verify team.

BBC News Russian sources say that Wagner mercenaries have taken control of military sites in the city.

There are also reports of a Wagner convoy on the road in the region - we'll bring you more on that shortly.

In the video below, the BBC’s analysis editor Ros Atkins looks at how Yevgeny Prigozhin rose from hot dog salesman to become the boss of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group.

Security in Moscow has been tightened, with armoured vehicles seen on the streets. Reaction to the developing situation among people in Moscow is mixed.

Here's a selection of their views.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters