Medvedev Urges Population To Rally Around Putin As Moscow Mayor Tells Residents 'Stay Inside'

Former Russian president and Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev is urging the population to rally around Vladimir Putin at this difficult moment the country is facing armed rebellion and an apparent coup attempt by Wagner Group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.

He wrote on Telegram that during this crisis it's of paramount importance to prevent a division in the nation and among its leadership. Given his high level position in the national security apparatus, this is among the clearest signs yet that Moscow sees this crisis as a very serious threat to Russia's stability and Putin's rule. 

"Rallying around our president and the supreme commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces is crucial for defeating the external and internal enemy, which seeks to tear our Homeland apart, and for saving our state," Medvedev said.

"National split and betrayal would lead to the greatest tragedy ever and a universal catastrophe," he emphasized. "We will not let it happen. The enemy will be crushed. Victory will be ours."

This marks an incredibly rare moment that Medvedev, normally the most outspoken and hawkish voice within the Kremlin, temporarily paused his threats against Ukraine and the West, in order to focus denunciations on hostile forces within Russia itself.

At this point, Western media outlets are labelling what's going on as an attempted coup, also given the ongoing Wagner advance toward government centers of power and the capital:

Moscow’s mayor has urged residents to stay inside as Yevgeny Prigozhin and his mercenary force storm to within just 250 miles of the capital.

“The situation is difficult,” said Sergei Sobyanin.

“I ask you to refrain from travelling around the city as much as possible,” he said, warning that roads may also be closed.

By around 5pm local time, Prigozhin’s forces were said to be “moving across” the Lipetsk region, some 250 miles south of Moscow, the local governor said.

Barricades have been erected around Moscow...

Wagner's fight for loyalty of the population begins...

Wagner convoys have meanwhile been spotted within hours of the capital. There have also been unconfirmed reports that President Putin took a plane to St. Petersburg, which the Kremlin disputed.