Vladimir Putin has spoken to the Russian nation in a televised address to “answer all questions” raised about the attempted coup by the Wagner Group. The Russian leader has once again said that the “Wagners are patriots” and acknowledges that will forgive those who have gone to Belarus and the rest will allow them to integrate into the Russian Army. In addition, Putin has recognized that “the organizers” of the attempted coup will be brought to justice.
The Kremlin chief, who had remained silent since his address to the nation on Saturday, when he branded the mutinous Wagnerites traitors and vowed to punish them, said that “in any case, an armed rebellion would have been put down” but that the its organizers had realized this and that they had “resorted to criminal acts“.
He said the aim of the mutiny, which came as “our comrades are dying” at the front, he claimed, was to “divide and weaken the country”which faces a “colossal external threat” and “unprecedented external pressure”, it warned
[Rusia sospecha que la inteligencia de EEUU está involucrada en el motín del grupo Wagner]
In this brief speech, recorded on video, Putin has had words of gratitude for Aleksandr Lukashenko for his mediation so that the Wagner Group abandoned its ‘March for Justice’ but he has recognized that “it was the union of society that put an end to the riot”.
He wanted to make it clear that from the very moment the rebellion began on Friday night – when the mercenaries crossed the border, seized the city of Rostov-on-Don and began to march towards Moscow – he gave direct orders to “avoid much bloodshed“.
“This took time, even to give those who made a mistake the opportunity to think again, to understand that your actions are resolutely rejected by society and to what tragic and destructive consequences for Russia, for our state, the adventure in which they were dragged was headed,” Putin said.
These statements collide head-on with those of Prigozhin in which he assured that they stopped the march after seeing that there was a point of no return and that “the blood of the compatriots was at stake”.
The president thanked all military personnelthe law enforcement officers and special services who “got in the way of the rebels, remained true to their duty, oath and their people.”
He also highlighted the courage and sacrifice of the pilots who died in their mission to stop the Wagnerite columns.
