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
there was no mention at all of the rebellion. there s also footage of the defence minister at a military command post. he cold the defence minister evil and said he had to be sacked. nato s secretary general has given his first reaction to the weekend s remarkable events. to weekend s remarkable events. trr remind you all this is about internal russian matters. and therefore what nato is focused on is supporting ukraine. it demonstrates the fragility of the russian regime, but it is not for nato to intervene in those issues. that is a russian matter. what matters for nato is not to be intimidated or prevented from continuing to provide support for ukraine. in a video released by the kremlin russia s prime minister appeared to blame the west for last weekend s chaos and called on the russian people, to unite behind president putin. translation: russia is going through an important time in its history. as the president noted, virtually the entire military, economic, infor
and the site of a mass grave. the israeli military has surrounded and occupied the hospitalfor days, claiming a hamas command centre lies beneath it. that s been denied by hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation by many western governments. on saturday, hundreds of people including some patients left the hospital on foot, making their way through israeli armoured vehicles. around 300 critically ill patients remain at al shifa. the who says it s now drawing up plans for their evacuation. meanwhile, the hamas run health authority, says at least 80 people have been killed in two israeli strikes on the jabalia refugee camp. they say one hit a un run school, that was being used as a shelter. the white house has said israel and hamas have not reached a deal on a temporary ceasefire. it follows a us media report that the two sides were close to an agreement to free dozens of women and children held hostage in gaza, in exchange for a five day pause in fighting. this r
vladimir putin two months ago, if you remember, basically called the uprising treachery. he said it was a stab in the back by wagner and by yevgeny prigozhin. he looked absolutely furious when he was forced to negotiate a settlement to that uprising. and so it wouldn t be any surprise if, indeed, this is vladimir putin taking his revenge two months on, on the people leading this uprising. it s not just yevgeny prigozhin on that plane, it s essentially the entire leadership of the wagner organization. dmitry ulkin who founded wagner, the head of wagner security was on the plane as well, a couple of other top figures as well. so this has been the wagner leadership board, if you like, that s been totally wiped out in this plane crash. ten people on that plane, three crew members and seven passengers, including the wagner lead exert leadership.