Military vehicles seen in Moscow

STORY: As a long-running standoff between him and the Defence Ministry appeared to come to a head late on Friday, the ministry issued a statement denying Prigozhin’s accusations and denouncing them as “informational provocation.”

Russia’s FSB security service opened a criminal case against Prigozhin for calling for an armed mutiny, the TASS news agency said, citing the National Anti-terrorism Committee.

Prigozhin has denied his actions amounted to a coup.