video of him leaving rostov-on-don, where he had taken control of a key russian military facility. the kremlin says, he is now heading to neighboring belarus, wagner soldiers would not be prosecuted. again, all of this is from the kremlin and unverified by nbc news. new reporting from the washington post reads, quote, while putin seemed to avert his greatest prices crisis in more than 23 years as russia s supreme political leader, grief armed rebellion, presented the starkest evidence yet that his brutal invasion of ukraine could backfire. leading to instability at home and exposing his growing isolation from reality and weakness as a leader. joining us now from kyiv, nbc news correspondent kelly cobiella, nbc news white house correspondent and on capitol hill, and pc news correspondent julie adjuster. kelly, let s start with you. how is the kremlin trying to explain what s unfolded over the past 24 hours? well alicia, it s interesting. they re not trying to explain, it t
tonight, we begin with breaking news out of russia. a major twist in that country s war against ukraine. vladimir putin forced to confront a rebellion within his own borders. just hours ago, we learned that if guinea prigozhin, the owner and the head of the wagner group and mercenary force that has been fighting alongside the russian military and ukraine, halted his advance on to the country s capital. that announcement came shortly after prigozhin claimed he and his fighters had captured the city of rostov-on-don home to the russian military headquarters for its war in ukraine. since their invasion last year, moscow has become dependent on the back in a group to support the war efforts as they re dwindling russian forces struggle to make significant gains inside ukrainian territory. in december, the u.s. said it believed the group had an estimated 50,000 personnel inside ukraine alone. it made up of about 10,000 contractors and 40,000 convicts that were recruited from inside
that does it for me this hour. i m alicia menendez, i will hang things over to him and more hitting. i will see you back here ten pm for continuing coverage for what s going on in russia. it s a very busy day. i will see you in a few hours, alicia. good evening, and welcome to a special edition of ayman tonight. everything you need to know about the evolving situation on the ground in russia over the next two hours, we re gonna break down the big complex security issues. we re gonna explain how all of these developments with the backing of group affect the war in ukraine. the nato alliance, with us right here at home. i will be speaking with ro khanna, a member of the house services committee about how the biden administration should react. i m ayman mohyeldin, let s get started.