In an audio message published on the social media platform Telegram, he declared that "the evil that Russian military leaders are conveying must be stopped".

"Those who killed our men and tens of thousands of Russian soldiers [in the war in Ukraine] will be punished," he said.

"I ask you not to resist. Anyone who does will be considered a threat and destroyed. The same goes for all checkpoints and aviation on our route.

"The presidential power, the government, the police and the Russian guard will operate as usual.

"This is not a military coup, but a march of justice. Our actions in no way interfere with the troops."

Earlier in the day, he had declared that the war in Ukraine had been triggered "so that Shoigu could become field marshal".

"The Ministry of Defense is trying to mislead the public, mislead the President and tell a story that Ukraine committed senseless aggression and that, together with the entire NATO bloc, Ukraine was planning to attack us. This is false, Ukraine has done nothing of the sort!" he declared.

Russian state media report that the FSB, Russia's security services, has opened criminal proceedings against Prigozhin, accusing him of "calling for armed rebellion". The Kremlin also said that "the necessary measures are being taken", according to the Russian news agency Interfax. nostr:note1lyngg444paj9dg29xqsrdkextyfm7aycy6fgrvv0xxftfm0qmjls86jets