Calling the perpetrators of the uprising “traitors” and “enemies of Russia,” Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday emphasized the role of the country’s unity in defeating the rebellion led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the mercenary Wagner Group.
In a five-minute-long televised address, Putin extolled Russian patriotism as the reason for the quick end to the burgeoning coup attempt, saying it would have been suppressed if it had continued.
“I thank all our military personnel, law enforcement officers and special servicemen who stood in the path of the rebels, remained faithful to their duty, oath and their people,” Putin said in his first appearance since the revolt ended. “The Russian society made a decisive step and made it possible for us together to overcome a most difficult situation.’’
Putin also thanked most of the mercenaries for not letting the situation deteriorate into “bloodshed,” saying many of them were loyal Russians who were misled, apparently putting most of the blame on Prigozhin, his former ally who accepted a deal to flee to Belarus. His whereabouts have not been confirmed.
Prigozhin, who repeatedly criticized Russian military leaders and their war strategy, had said his fighters would not comply with a Defense Ministry requirement that they sign contracts to join the regular forces by July 1, but Putin suggested they would follow orders.
“We knew and know that the overwhelming majority of the fighters and commanders of the Wagner group are Russian patriots, devoted to their people and the state,” Putin said. “They proved it on the battlefield, liberating the Donbass and Novorossiya.”
Prigozhin says he was protesting, not leading a coup
Earlier Monday, Prigozhin issued his first statement since an aborted weekend march on Moscow, saying he halted his campaign because he didn’t want to spill Russian blood and because the goal was protest, not regime change.
Prigozhin did not take responsibility for killing more than a dozen pilots and other Russians during his brief revolt, saying they attacked his troops. And he said that if Russian troops had marched on the first day of invading Ukraine as far as his Wagner troops marched in 24 hours, the war that has stretched to more than 16 months would have ended in one day.
“We started our march because of an injustice,” Prigozhin said in an 11-minute video statement. He said his troops were met with cheering crowds waving the flag of his Wagner Group fighters.
Prigozhin’s march began Friday and ended the next day when a deal was brokered by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. Under the agreement, Prigozhin would go to Belarus and neither he nor his troops would face treason or other charges. Russia’s RIA Novosti state news agency, however, cited unidentified sources in the prosecutor general’s office as saying the criminal case against Prigozhin hasn’t been closed.
Prigozhin and his mercenary troops, estimated at up to 50,000 soldiers, have been the point of the spear in Russia’s attempt to gain territory in the hotly contested Donbas region of Ukraine. But Prigozhin has routinely blasted Russia’s military leaders for failing to provide sufficient support and for what he viewed as poor performance of regular troops.
The fissures in Russia’s military are widening as Ukraine gains momentum with its counteroffensive. In three weeks, Ukraine has recaptured about 115 square miles of land Russia had occupied − more territory than Russia seized in its entire winter offensive, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Monday.
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President Joe Biden, in his first public remarks on the situation in Russia, said the U.S. had nothing to do with the rebellion and that it is “too early” to determine what impact it will have. Biden said when the uprising began, he directed his national security team to report back to him “hour by hour” and to “prepare for a range of scenarios,” which he did not detail. Biden said he also took part in a video call with key U.S. allies.
“They agreed with me that we had to make sure we gave Putin no excuse … to blame this on the West or to blame this on NATO,” Biden said. “We made clear that we were not involved, we had nothing to do with it. This was part of a struggle within the Russian system.”
At a White House press briefing, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby declined to say whether the U.S. would prefer Putin or Prigozhin running Russia, saying that’s for Russians to decide.
Asked about Biden’s comment in Poland last year that Putin cannot remain in power, Kirby replied: “Regime change is…