Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an emergency televised address on Saturday that an "armed mutiny" by the Wagner private military group was treason, and that anyone who had taken up arms against the Russian military would be punished.

File photo: Xinhua

He said he would do everything to protect Russia, and that "decisive action" would be taken to stabilize the situation in Rostov-on-Don, a southern city where Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said his forces had taken control of all military installations.

Prigozhin, 62, announced earlier that his Wagner fighters had crossed the border into Russia's Rostov from Ukraine and were prepared to go "all the way" against Moscow's military.

Putin warned that "all those who deliberately stepped on the path of betrayal, who prepared an armed insurrection, who took the path of blackmail and terrorist methods, will suffer inevitable punishment, will answer both to the law and to our people."