Global Courant
OTTAWA –
Canada’s incident response group will meet on Saturday to discuss the latest developments in Russia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
I have been informed about the events in Russia. The Incident Response Group is meeting today to discuss the latest developments. We are in contact with our allies and will continue to monitor the situation closely.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) June 24, 2023
Authorities in that country are trying to put down an armed uprising led by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Canada is in touch with allies and will continue to closely monitor the situation, Trudeau said in a tweet Saturday morning.
A tweet earlier in the day from Secretary of State Melanie Joly said G7 foreign ministers had a call to discuss overnight developments in Russia but gave no further details.
Prigozhin’s Wagner group appears to control the military headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, where Russia’s operations in Ukraine are conducted, according to the British Ministry of Defence. The city is located more than 1,000 kilometers south of Moscow.
Wagner’s troops and equipment have also entered Russia’s Lipetsk province, about 360 kilometers south of the Russian capital.
Authorities have tightened security in a number of Russian regions amid the tensions, canceling some mass events.
Russia’s foreign ministry on Saturday warned the West not to abuse the uprising, saying the Russian public stands with President Vladimir Putin.
Putin has vowed harsh punishment for the organizers of the armed uprising, calling the uprising “a stab in the back”.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 24, 2023.
With files from The Associated Press