Flights leaving Moscow sell out as Wagner troops descend, and unconfirmed reports say Putin might have left the capital for St. Petersburg
- Flights from Moscow have sold out amid reports Wagner troops are marching on the city, per Der Spiegel.
- The mercenary Wagner Group launched an unprecedented mutiny in Russia on Saturday.
Direct flights out of Moscow have sold out, following speculation that Moscow's elite would flee amid the Wagner Group mutiny, German outlet Der Spiegel reported.
Scores of Wagner fighters entered Russia from occupied Ukraine on Saturday morning and claimed to have taken control of crucial security sites. Reports have suggested they are now heading to the capital.
Flights from Moscow to Tbilisi, Georgia, Astana, Kazakhstan, and Istanbul, Turkey, are now no longer available, a Der Spiegel reporter confirmed.
There have also been unconfirmed reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin has fled the capital, based on data from Flightradar24, which reportedly showed a government plane often used by him depart from Moscow's Vnukovo Airport towards St. Petersberg and then disappear from radar, per Der Spiegel.
However, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that the president had left Moscow, per the Russian news agency TASS.
Some outlets have also reported that Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov has fled to Turkey, but this is also unconfirmed.
Several other private flights from Russia were also tracked on the Flightradar24 platform, Der Spiegel said.
Putin has condemned the mutiny, which he has described as a "betrayal," and has vowed that Russia will defend itself.