Kremlin denies Putin fled Moscow as plane mysteriously disappears from radar

President Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday and urged him to act with common sense, the Turkish presidency said, after Russian mercenary fighters began an armed mutiny overnight.

Mr Putin, who described the Wagner Group’s actions as “treason” in an emergency televised address, said anyone who had taken up arms against the Russian military would be punished.

Erdogan was among the first leaders to hold a phone call with Putin after his speech on Saturday.

The Turkish presidency said the two discussed recent developments in Russia and Erdogan told Putin that Turkey was ready to do its part to help bring about a peaceful resolution.

“It was stressed during the call that no one should take it upon themselves to take action in the face of the situation in Russia,” it added.

Roadblocks have been set up on Moscow and posters advertising the Wagner group have been taken down, Sky has reported.

At the last report, Russian Wagner mercenaries were “moving across” the Lipetsk region some 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of Moscow, the governor said Saturday, en route to Moscow.

Wagner fighters have been photographed sitting atop of a tank in Rostov-on-Don.

US President Joe Biden has been briefed and his administration is closely monitoring fast-moving developments in Russia as Vladimir Putin vowed “decisive actions” to suppress mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his armed rebellion.

“We are monitoring the situation and will be consulting with allies and partners on these developments,” according to a statement on Friday night from National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge.

Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday that it warned Western countries against using the Wagner mercenary group’s mutiny “to achieve their Russophobic goals”.

The Wagner group is now 225 miles south of Moscow.

It has advanced more than 200 miles since the start of the day.

“We have been monitoring for a while the potentially destabilising impacts of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine,” Rishi Sunak has said in an interview with the BBC.

The prime minister spoke to Laura Kuenssberg for a broadcast which will be aired on Sunday.

He urged both sides in Russia to “be responsible and to protect civilians”.

The British ministry of defence previously tweeted: “This represents the most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times.”

Prime minister Justin Trudeau said on Saturday that Canada’s incident response group will meet to discuss the latest developments in Russia as mutinous Russian mercenaries barrelled towards Moscow after seizing a southern city overnight.

“Were in contact with our allies and will continue to monitor the situation closely,” Trudeau wrote on Twitter.

Latvia has closed its borders to Russians with the Baltic state wary of the developing situation.

Edgars Rinkēvičs, the president elect, tweeted that the situation is being followed closely.

He wrote: “Border security has been strengthened, visa or border entry from Russians leaving Russia due to current events won’t be considered.

“Latvia will not issue humanitarian or other types of visas.”

Senior Russian military officers have urged Wagner contractors to stop their efforts for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defence minister.

Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of the Russian group of forces fighting in Ukraine, told the Wagner forces to obey “the will” of Vladimir Putin and stop any move against the army.

“We mustn’t play into the enemy’s hands in this difficult moment for the country,” he said, gripping a gun.

Another top military officer, Vladimir Alexeyev, denounced Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s move as “madness” and threatened to unleash a civil war in Russia.

Fighters of Wagner private mercenary group stand on a tank outside a local circus near the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the city of Rostov-on-Don.

Using brutality to try and stamp out dissent is what the Russian president has done for more than 20 years, writes Kremlin critic Bill Browder

The first – and most important – thing to know about Vladimir Putin is that he has to show total strength all the time in order to stay in power.

The actions of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary forces, are a direct challenge to that. But Putin’s psychology is the psychology of the prison yard. If you are new in the prison yard you have to show such brutality to make your mark and then keep up that same level to maintain a position at the top. That is what Putin has done ever since he came to power more than 20 years ago.