Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed Monday that those responsible for the armed revolt that plunged his country into chaos would be “brought to justice.”
Addressing the nation for the first time since the short-lived mercenary rebellion ended over the weekend, Putin appeared defiant but offered little clarity about the situation.
“Any blackmail is doomed to failure,” he said, claiming his forces could have crushed a revolt that posed the biggest challenge to his rule in more than 20 years and left the Kremlin scrambling to restore a sense of stability.
Earlier Monday Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin issued a defiant audio message in which he defended his actions.
In his speech, Putin again labeled the organizers of the rebellion traitors. “This was a colossal threat,” the Russian leader said.
But he took time to praise the fighters who seized a Russian city and marched toward Moscow before turning back, suggesting they could join the Russian military or move safely to Belarus.
“The majority of the Wagner company are also patriots of Russia. They have shown their courage in defending Donbas and yet were encouraged to fight against their compatriots,” he said, referring to the region in eastern Ukraine where Wagner has led much of the fighting.
“By turning back they avoided further bloodshed,” he added. “We have to think about the people who actually decided to do this.”
Putin also thanked Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who purportedly brokered the deal to end the crisis.
Earlier Monday Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin issued a defiant audio message in which he defended the actions of his fighters.
June 26, 202302:53
He acted not to topple Putin’s regime but to protect Wagner from being destroyed by the Russian defense ministry, Prigozhin said in a nearly 12-minute audio recording on his press office’s channel on Telegram.The weekend’s events were a stunning escalation in a long-running feud between Prigozhin and the military’s top brass, whom he has repeatedly accused of starving Wagner of weapons and supplies.
The future of Prigozhin and his rebels is uncertain.
Putin’s regime appeared weakened, having promised to pardon those it labeled traitors mere hours earlier and said it would allow Prigozhin to head to exile in Belarus.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
