Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that an armed insurrection launched by members of the Wagner mercenary group was evidence of Russia's inherent political instability.
"Russia's weakness is obvious. Full-scale weakness. And the longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries on our land, the more chaos, pain, and problems it will have for itself later," he said in a statement on social media.
"Ukraine is able to protect Europe from the spread of Russian evil and chaos," Zelensky added.
The rapidly escalating events mark the most serious challenge yet to the Kremlin chief's long rule, and Russia's most serious security crisis since the strongman came to power in late 1999.
Zelensky accused Putin of throwing "hundreds of thousands into the war, in order to eventually barricade himself in the Moscow region from those whom he himself armed."
"For a long time, Russia used propaganda to mask its weakness and the stupidity of its government," he added in the statement.
