telling russians in an address that it appears to have been recorded before this weekend s rebellion, that he remains confident in his plans and ukraine. tomorrow has been declared a non-working day in moscow. but banks and russia s stock exchange will be operating as normal. outside of russia s borders, including in the u.s., putin s grip on power appears to be weekend, if not eroding. he s been very strong for three decades. this is the first time the veneer of instability, he just seems to be the strongman. now he is viewed as weak. this moment of weakness for putin, whether temporary or more permanent, may present a moment of opportunity for ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy and his military as they continue a counteroffensive against russia. britain s former army chief told sky news, mutiny is a moment of opportunity for ukraine. in washington, maine while, the white house says president biden reaffirmed his support for ukraine in a call with president zelensky
tonight, we begin with breaking news out of russia. a major twist in that country s war against ukraine. vladimir putin forced to confront a rebellion within his own borders. just hours ago, we learned that if guinea prigozhin, the owner and the head of the wagner group and mercenary force that has been fighting alongside the russian military and ukraine, halted his advance on to the country s capital. that announcement came shortly after prigozhin claimed he and his fighters had captured the city of rostov-on-don home to the russian military headquarters for its war in ukraine. since their invasion last year, moscow has become dependent on the back in a group to support the war efforts as they re dwindling russian forces struggle to make significant gains inside ukrainian territory. in december, the u.s. said it believed the group had an estimated 50,000 personnel inside ukraine alone. it made up of about 10,000 contractors and 40,000 convicts that were recruited from inside
yevgeny prigozhin called off his rebellion after 24 hours of mayhem. roadblocks to stop his wagner forces are filled in, as the crisis is diffused. after a direct threat to his leadership, the questions over vladimir putin s future. well forces in ukraine assess how the turmoil will affect the progress of the war. also this morning, the public toll, they can now call 999 after earlier technical fault. plus, labor calls for mandatory help for homeowners struggling to meet rising mortgage payments. and the princess of wales takes on roger federer as she praises the work of ball girls and boys ahead of wimbledon. good morning. now, the rebellion by the russian mercenary leader yevgeny prigozhin appears for now, to be over. the russian president vladimir putin called it a knife in the back of our people, and said that his forces were traitors. but a deal has now been negotiated by belarus and the kremlin, said the rebel leader will be allowed to leave the country and his fighters
bases. russian ally and neighbor in belarus helped broker a deal with prigozhin, to escalate the situation. prigozhin agreed to leave russia for asylum batters, but not before getting a heroes sendoff from russian residents. [crowd chanting] [sound of gunfire] nbc news correspondent ali arouzi joins me now, live from london. ali, thank you for being here. the situation in russia has changed dramatically in the last 24 hours, what s happening there now? jonathan, it has been an extraordinary 24 hours of mayhem, mutiny. and as quickly as all of this began, it ended. in a nutshell, where are we? the wagner group probably will be incorporated into the russian defense ministry, prigozhin is in exile in neighboring belarus, and vladimir putin is still in power, considerably weaker. and it is really extraordinary what unfolded in russia. very extraordinary how it all started. look at the beginning of the day, vladimir putin made that statement on television, visibly angry, calli
stopped his advance on moscow and apparently pulled at least some fighters out of rostov-on-don. they had made to it within 120 miles of the capital when they suddenly decided to turn around. the kremlin saying they have putin s word he can go safely to belarus free from prosecution. you can see him being cheered by the folks. they even went to shake his hand. prigozhin saying he made the deal because he didn t want to shed russian blood. translator: therefore, russian blood would be shed from one of the sites we turn our column around and turn in the opposite direction according to the plan. we also see here some of his departing fighters who seem to get some cheers from residents as they stood on top of the tanks. so we have full team coverage for you over the next hour. our team of correspondents and guests. i start with nic robertson. so prigozhin has been seething at russian leadership. he s been saying for months, attacking the defense minister shoigu and others. he