Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged in a televised address that the leaders of the Wagner rebellion would be brought to justice, in Putin’s first public comments since the mutiny by the mercenary group ended in an uncertain truce on June 24.
Putin’s remarks on June 26 were his first since a fiery speech several days ago while the apparent rebellion was still playing out and in which the Russian leader called the Wagner chief’s actions a “stab in the back” and pledged to crush what he described as a “rebellion.”
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner leader, on June 24 ordered his fast-advancing troops to stand down and return to base as part of a reported deal in which criminal charges against him would be dropped as he agreed to go into exile in neighboring Belarus.
But in his speech on June 26, Putin appeared to take aim at the Wagner chief while denouncing the leaders of the rebellion and their “criminal activity that aims at weakening the country” while vowing to bring “organizers of this rebellion to justice.”
Putin’s remarks appear to run counter to earlier reports that criminal charges against Prigozhin would be dropped.
The Russian leader added that “any attempts to stir unrest are doomed to fail,” while claiming that the rebellion would have been thwarted before it reached Moscow as the Kremlin was ready and had made all “necessary decisions to neutralize the threat.”
Putin said most of the Wagner fighters were patriots and that “by turning back, they avoided further bloodshed.”
He added that he would let Wagner fighters relocate to Belarus if they wished, sign contracts with the defense ministry, or simply return to their families.
Ahead of Putin’s much-anticipated speech, speculation swirled around whether the Kremlin–Wagner truce would hold as the mercenary group’s exiled leader issued a statement insisting he wasn’t trying to oust Putin, while Western officials questioned whether another act is yet to play out in the dramatic saga.
By Tom Ozimek
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