MOSCOW (Sputnik) — An opposition leader and former deputy of the nation’s long-serving President Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai, was on the plane from Russia alongside two other ministers, Sky News reported.
The Zimbabwean army took over power early on Wednesday, confining the 93-year-old president to his house and claiming it was targeting criminals around him. The African Union has said this looks like a coup.
In early November, Mugabe dismissed Emmerson Mnangagwa, the first vice president of Zimbabwe, who was thought to become Mugabe's successor and enjoyed the support of the country's army. On Monday, Constantine Chiwenga, the commander of the Zimbabwe Defense Forces, called on the president to stop the purge within the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) party, from which Mnangagwa had been expelled.