Russia's paramilitary organisation the Wagner Group "is no friend to the West", as he leads the group towards Moscow, an expert has warned.
Vladimir Putin appears ready for war after his forces blitzed an oil depot in Russia's Voronezh region, the Wagner mercenary group stormed barricades, edging closer to Moscow.
The Russian leader's troops have seized control of roads and have begun placing sandbags along the roadsides in a bid to prevent coup forces from making any further advances.
Dr Colin Alexander, who is an expert in political communications from Nottingham Trent University, has tonight warned the Wagner Group "is no friend to the West".
The lecturer said: "It should be made clear at this point that Wagner is no friend of the West and a successful coup should not be viewed as a positive development.
"If the ambition is for Russia to finally become a member of the community of liberal and democratic nations then that won't be achieved through a Yevgeny Prigozhin led Moscow administration.
"It will certainly weaken Moscow within international relations though and maybe that is good enough for some."
Wagner claims to have seized control of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, and reports suggest it also controls key sites in Voronezh, a city further north.
They appear to be advancing in the direction of Moscow, and have been spotted as far north as the Lipetsk region - which is still hours from the capital.
Mr Prigozhin, once one of Putin's most trusted allies, has thrust himself into the global spotlight in recent months with Russia's war in Ukraine.
And Dr Alexander, who has researched extensively into political propaganda and diplomacy and public diplomacy, added: "Prigozhin is clearly frustrated by Russian military incompetence in the Ukraine conflict and that these questionable decisions have led to the unnecessary deaths of his soldiers."
He continued: "He may also have misgivings about the rationale for the conflict as a whole. However, in this act of militarism, Prigozhin has achieved more than Alexei Navalny or Vladimir Kara-Murza have done in challenging Vladimir Putin's authority.
"Some analysts think that Putin's administration is actually quite weak, incompetent and precarious and that it uses its media and legal prowess, alongside Putin's swaggering cult of personality, to scare people out of challenging it.
"The next few days might tell us whether that really is the case."
"It remains to be seen what will happen, or indeed what the intent of Wagner's commanders are in these strategic manoeuvres within Russia.
"While we don't know if this an attempted military coup, taking control of Russia's key military city of Rostov would indicate that this is, at the very least, a display of unscripted defiance by Wagner.
"Tensions have grown in recent weeks between Moscow and Wagner.
"The mercenary organisation, despite fighting on the side of the Russians in the Ukraine conflict, has different goals, ambitions and priorities for being there, and ultimately has a somewhat different worldview to the pro-Putin government: they see beyond their us versus them/Russia versus the world narrative.
"Wagner is clearly frustrated by what has happened in the last year and the situation has reached a watershed."
Video from regions along their route - some of which the BBC has verified - appear to show explosions, and mercenary boss Prigozhin claims his convoys have been fired upon.
Travel has been restricted in a region bordering Moscow, while people in other areas such as Lipetsk have been urged not to leave their homes.
The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, has just put out a statement on Telegram announcing that "a counter-terrorist operation regime has been declared in Moscow" and that Monday will be a "non-working day" to "minimise risks".
