Wagner Group Rebellion: Vladimir Putin Says He Avoided 'Great Bloodshed' in Russia

Vladimir Putin posed on Monday evening June 26 as the guarantor of internal peace in Russia, ensuring that he had avoided a bloodbath, during his first public statement since the brief rebellion of the Wagner Group, which its leader Yevgueni Prigojine justified for save the paramilitary group and not seize power.

“From the beginning of the events, measures were taken on my direct instructions in order to avoid great bloodshed,” the Russian president said in a short televised address to the nation, blaming Ukraine and the West to wish for “such a fratricidal outcome”.

Shortly before, his American counterpart Joe Biden had on the contrary assured that Westerners were “not involved” and had “nothing to do with these events”, described as “internal problem in Russia”.

Thanking the Russians for their “resilience”, “unity” and “patriotism”, Mr. Putin said that “this citizen solidarity has shown that any blackmail (…) is doomed to failure”. Posing as a guarantor for a return to calm, the Russian leader then let it be known, through the presidential spokesman, that he was “in a working meeting” with the country’s main security officials, including the Attorney General. , the interior and defense ministers, and the director of the FSB (security service). He “thanked them for the work done during these few days”.

Proposal to Wagner’s Soldiers

To Wagner members involved in the mutiny, some of which took just over 200 km from Moscow, he offered to join the regular army, “return to their families and loved ones” or “leave for the Belarus ”, allied country where their boss Evgueni Prigojine must go into exile, according to the Kremlin.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will “very soon” deliver a speech, announced a Telegram channel close to the presidency, without specifying a date. On Monday evening, Mr Putin again accused the unnamed Wagner boss of “betraying his country and his people” while “lying” to his men.

During the day, Yevgeny Prigojine had justified his revolt by the fact that he wanted to save his organization, not to seize power, and that his attempt brought to light the “serious security problems” in Russia.

The Russian authorities have endeavored throughout the day on Monday to give an image of normalcy in the country, despite this serious blow in the space of twenty-four hours to the image of Vladimir Putin, in full counter- Ukrainian offensive.

In an 11-minute audio message, Mr Prigozhin did not reveal his whereabouts, despite the agreement reached on Saturday evening with the Kremlin through Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko providing for him to go into exile in Belarus .

According to him, his men’s march to Moscow “brought to light serious security problems in the country”, as they were able to seize the army headquarters in Rostov-on-Don without much resistance. and several other military sites, covering 780 kilometers before stopping “just over 200 km from Moscow”. He also assured that he had the support of the civilians he met during this short rebellion.

Wagner still active

For months, Wagner’s boss had accused Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valeri Gerasimov of being incompetent and of having sent tens of thousands of soldiers to sacrifice. According to him, the Ministry of Defense tried to dismantle Wagner by absorbing him, then bombed one of his camps, killing thirty. An accusation denied by the Russian army.

Sergei Shoigu, who had disappeared during the rebellion, reappeared earlier Monday in a video inspecting forces engaged in Ukraine, without it being possible to determine when these images were filmed.

The Wagner group also assured that its headquarters in Saint Petersburg was operating “normally”, while the head of diplomacy Sergei Lavrov noted that the paramilitaries would continue their operations in Mali and in the Central African Republic.

The organization has also resumed its recruitment in certain regions of Russia, according to the TASS agency. Another sign of this effort to return to normal, the authorities announced the end of the “anti-terrorist operation regime” in the Moscow region and that of Voronezh, south of the capital.

“Actual Cracks”

Mr. Prigozhin, a businessman who was an ally of Putin responsible for doing many of Moscow’s dirty tricks, ended his rebellion on Saturday evening, in exchange for immunity promised by the Kremlin for him and his men.

But on Monday, Russian news agencies all reported that the criminal investigation against him for “calling for armed mutiny” was still ongoing. While the coup ended as suddenly as it began, this crisis represents the biggest challenge Putin has faced since he came to power in late 1999.

Scrutinized in all the chancelleries, it “reveals real cracks” at the highest level of the Russian state, said Sunday the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Many analysts also believe that it could weaken Russian forces in Ukraine and benefit kyiv in its counter-offensive. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar announced on Monday that the army had nibbled away 17 km of ground against Moscow’s forces, or 130 km2 since the beginning of June. She said that the locality of Rivnopil, in the Donetsk region, had been taken over.