The simmering conflict between Moscow’s military leadership and Yevgeny Prigozhin, the bombastic chief of private mercenary group Wagner, has exploded into an open insurrection that has plunged Russia into renewed uncertainty and the very real threat of civil war, media reports said.

Prigozhin unleashed a new tirade against the Russian military on Friday and then marched his troops into the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. “There are 25,000 of us and we are going to find out why there is such chaos in the country,” he said, said to the media.