The Russian president's speech came shortly after Prighozin posted a message of his own, apparently filmed in Rostov-on-Don, accusing the Russian military leadership of betrayal and failure in the ongoing battle against Ukrainian forces.
"A huge amount of territory is lost. Soldiers have been killed, three, four times more than what it says in documents shown to the top," he said, accusing military commanders of hiding the true scale of Russian losses in Ukraine from the Kremlin.
"Military sites in Rostov, including an aerodrome, are under control," he said, adding that warplanes taking part in the Ukraine offensive "are leaving as normal."