2023-06-26 23:43:07
Russian President Vladimir Putin reappeared on Monday night to warn that the rebellion unleashed over the weekend by paramilitaries from the Wagner group was controlled and that, to avoid bloodshed in his territory, he offered them to join the official troops or go into exile in Belarus.
“Since the beginning of the events, measures were taken following my direct instructions to avoid great bloodshed,” Putin said during a televised speech, during which he judged that the West and Ukraine wanted “a fratricidal result” with the paramilitary uprising that the world witnessed.
In his statement, which was disguised as a way to reassure his citizens –from which a certain rejection of the bloody invasion that he unleashed on Ukraine a year and a half ago emanates–, he warned that the unity of his country is not at stake.
“The organizers of this riot have betrayed their people and their country. They lied to their own members and urged them to shoot their own fellow citizens,” Putin said. And, by the way, he sent the Wagners a clear message: “You have the possibility to continue serving Russia with a contract with the Ministry of Defense or other law enforcement agencies or return to your family and loved ones, for For example, Belarus.
In any case, earlier and via Telegram, the head of the Wagner paramilitary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, denied that he wanted to take power in Russia and justified his aborted rebellion because he wanted to save his organization and highlight the “serious security problems” in the country.
The rebellion by Prigozhin, a billionaire once an ally of Putin, lasted 24 hours and ended on Saturday. And although Prigozhin did not reveal his whereabouts, according to an agreement reached on Saturday with the Kremlin – mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko – the mercenary should go into exile in Belarus.
“The aim of the march was not to allow the destruction of the Wagner group and to hold accountable those who with their unprofessional actions made a considerable number of mistakes” in Ukraine, he said in the 11-minute message.
According to him, the march of his men towards Moscow “has revealed serious security problems” because they were able to seize the Army headquarters in Rostov and other military installations without resistance. traveling 780 kilometers before stopping 200 kilometers from Moscow.
If Wagner’s forces did not advance further, it was, according to Prigozhin, so as not to “shed Russian blood”. He also said that he did not want to “overthrow power” and that he had the support of the civilians he met during the march.
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