Putin affirms that his Army avoided “a civil war”; Prigozhin arrived in Belarus

After the tension escalated in Russia to an unprecedented level since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, due to the uprising of the Wagner mercenary group at the end of last week, normality gradually returns to the Eurasian country.

This Tuesday, June 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin participated in an event in the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square, where he highlighted the work of his military and the country’s security devices to stop what threatened to be a “civil war “, after the uprising of the command led by Yevgueni Prigozhin on Saturday, June 24.

“You protected the constitutional order, life, security and freedom of our citizens, saved our country from shocks, stopped a civil war,” said the Kremlin leader.

In front of the representatives of the security agencies and the Ministry of Defense, the president remarked that his troops “cut the path to the rebellion, whose inevitable result would have been chaos.”

Likewise, Putin stressed that, thanks to the reaction of Russian security, his government did not have to displace units that are on the battlefront and control of “strategic facilities” was not lost.

In addition, the head of state led a minute of silence for the death of the pilots who died during the revolt.

“In this difficult situation, they acted precisely, in coordination, they showed their fidelity to the people of Russia and their military oath with deeds, they showed their responsibility for the fate of the homeland and its future,” he added.

Prigozhin arrived in Belarus; Wagner prepares the transfer of heavy material

Yevgeny Prigozhin is already in Belarus. This was stated in the last hours by the president of that country and ally of the Kremlin, Alexander Lukashenko.

The head of the Russian paramilitary group moved from Rostov in southern Russia, a few days after reaching an agreement, mediated by Minsk, to stop the mutiny that threatened to “march” towards Moscow, in exchange for the Kremlin drop the charges against him for rebellion.

His arrival in the country would mark the beginning of his exile. However, the Russian press has stressed that the criminal case against the man who has dealt the biggest blow to the authority of Vladimir Putin since he came to power more than 23 years ago, would continue.

In an address to the nation on Monday June 26, Putin argued that the leaders of what he called the “armed mutiny” had betrayed Russia and its people. All in a country where “betrayal” to the spheres of power is considered a serious crime.

For now, the Russian government has indicated that the group’s mercenaries could choose to go into exile in Belarus or continue fighting in Ukraine in favor of Moscow, but under an agreement signed directly with the Russian Defense Ministry. In other words, they would stop acting as an independent movement that supported Putin in his occupationist intentions in the neighboring nation, as has happened until a few days ago.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday that it is in the process of receiving the heavy military equipment that was in the hands of Wagner, which will be displaced after the brief uprising.

“Preparations are underway for the transfer of heavy military equipment from the Wagner private military company to active units of the Russian Armed Forces,” the ministry said on Telegram.

As part of the agreement between the Kremlin and Wagner, none of the soldiers or their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, would be criminally prosecuted after the uprising, but the Kremlin’s decision on this matter in the medium and long term is still uncertain.

Moscow signals that it closes the criminal case against the Wagner group

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it had closed the judicial file against the mercenaries after the riot, which could carry a prison sentence of 12 to 20 years.

Through a statement, quoted by the official Russian news agency TASS, the FSB explained that the members who started the rebellion stopped it before committing the crime.

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The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office had opened the case under article 279 of the Russian Criminal Code on the night of last Friday, June 23.

The United Nations denounced 77 executions of Ukrainian civilians

A new UN report charged that at least 864 Ukrainian civilians – including nearly a hundred women and children – were arbitrarily detained by Russian troops during the invasion of Ukraine.

In addition, another 77 civilians were summarily executed, the organization says.

The document was presented on Tuesday by the head of the UN Office for Human Rights in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner. The report also indicates that in 91% of the cases there was torture and sexual violence.

In return, the document also refers to 75 possible cases of arbitrary detention of civilians by Ukrainian forces.

With EFE and Reuters