MOSCOW, June 24. /TASS/. Preventing a national split requires rallying around Russian President Vladimir Putin, Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev wrote on Telegram.

"Rallying around our president and the supreme commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces is crucial for defeating the external and internal enemy, which seeks to tear our Homeland apart, and for saving our state. National split and betrayal would lead to the greatest tragedy ever and a universal catastrophe," he pointed out.

"We will not let it happen. The enemy will be crushed. Victory will be ours," Medvedev added.

Earlier, Vladimir Putin delivered a televised address to the nation, describing developments in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don as betrayal and a blow to Russia and its people. He warned the mutineers against making a fatal mistake and urged them to stop participating in illegal activities.

On Friday, several audio recordings were posted on the Telegram channel of Wagner private military company founder Yevgeny Prigozhin. He particularly claimed that his forces had come under attack, which he blamed on the country’s military authorities. In this regard, the Federal Security Service (FSB) launched a criminal investigation into calls for armed mutiny. The Russian Defense Ministry slammed allegations of a strike on the Wagner PMC’s "rear camps" as fake news.