Speculation over Putin’s whereabouts amid reports his plane left Moscow

London: There have been numerous reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s presidential plane took off from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport and then headed north-west, media reports said.

According to data from the Flight Radar tracking website, the plane reached the Tver area about 110 miles from Moscow and where Putin has a residence before disappearing from the system, The Guardian reported.

It has not been possible to confirm whether Putin was on the plane and his spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, has told the Tass news agency the President is “working in the Kremlin”.

Meanwhile, Iranian state media quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani on Saturday as saying Iran supports the rule of law in the Russian Federation and considers the latest developments there an internal Russian matter.

The simmering conflict between Moscow’s military leadership and Yevgeny Prigozhin, the bombastic chief of private mercenary group Wagner, has exploded into an open insurrection that plunges Russia into renewed uncertainty and the very real threat of civil war, CNN reported.

Prigozhin unleashed a new tirade against the Russian military on Friday and then marched his troops into the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.

Putin called Wagner’s actions “treason” and has vowed to punish those behind the “armed uprising”, CNN reported.