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Russian military helicopters opened fire on Saturday afternoon on a convoy of rebel mercenaries already more than half way towards capital Moscow in a lightning advance.
President Vladimir Putin vowed to crush an armed mutiny he compared to Russia's Civil War a century ago, reports Reuters.
Sources said fighters from Yevgeny Prigozhin's private Wagner militia were in control of Rostov-on-Don, a city of more than a million people close to the border with Ukraine, and were rapidly advancing northwards through western Russia.
Army helicopters open fire at an armed Wagner column that was advancing past the city of Voronezh with troop carriers and at least one tank on a flatbed truck. The city is more than half way along the 1,100-km (680-mile) highway from Rostov to Moscow, said a journalist of the new agency.
Prigozhin’s private army fought the bloodiest battles in Ukraine even as he feuded for months with the top brass, said he had captured the headquarters of Russia's Southern Military District in Rostov after leading his forces into Russia from Ukraine.
In Rostov, which serves as the main rear logistical hub for Russia's entire invasion force, residents milled about, filming on mobile phones, as Wagner fighters in armoured vehicles and battle tanks took up positions.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
