Italian PM says Russia battling internal 'chaos'

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Saturday the revolt by the Wagner mercenary group showed Russia was in internal "chaos".

In the most serious challenge yet to Russian President Vladimir Putin's long rule, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prighozin said his troops had seized a key military headquarters overseeing the offensive in Ukraine.

Speaking in Austria, Meloni said it was a "situation of chaos inside the Russian Federation which... clashes a bit with some of the propaganda which we have seen in recent months".

She said Italy was in contact with its international allies to share information about the rapidly changing situation, and she had called an emergency meeting of Italian government ministers and intelligence services back home.

Speaking alongside Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer at the Europa-Forum Wachau, she said "it is not easy" to establish exactly what was happening, let alone predict what happens next.

"What interests me continues to be the story of Ukraine," she told reporters.

Despite Italy's historically warm ties with Moscow, Meloni's coalition government has sent weapons and aid to help Ukraine while also strongly backing Western sanctions on Russia for its invasion last year.

Earlier, Meloni's office said recent events "show how the aggression against Ukraine is causing instability also within Russia".

On Twitter, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that for the moment there was no concern for Italians living in Russia, but said they were "advised to be cautious".