Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday night delivered his first address to Russia after Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s short-lived uprising ended, vowing to Wagner fighters that he would uphold his side of the deal that was reached to end the mutiny.
Putin thanked Russian citizens and his security forces for opposing the mutiny. “A firm, unambiguous position in support of the constitutional order was taken by public organizations, religious denominations, leading political parties, in fact, the entire Russian society. Everyone was united and rallied by the main thing, responsibility for the fate of the Fatherland,” he said.
Putin did not mention Prigozhin by name, saying that the “organizers of the rebellion” had “betrayed their country.”
The Russian leader said that Ukraine and its Western backers wanted to see Russians kill each other and for the country to fall into civil war. “They wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other, so that military personnel and civilians would die, so that in the end Russia would lose, and our society would split, choke in bloody civil strife,” he said. “They rubbed their hands, dreaming of taking revenge for their failures at the front and during the so-called counteroffensive, but they miscalculated.”
Discussing the Wagner members, Putin said that the “overwhelming majority of the fighters and commanders” of the mercenary force are Russian patriots. “Therefore, from the very beginning of the events, on my direct instructions, steps were taken to avoid a lot of bloodshed,” he said.
Putin thanked Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for mediating negotiations to end the crisis that led to a deal. Putin vowed to uphold the agreement by offering Wagner members the options of signing a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry, going home to their families, or traveling to Belarus. “The promise I made will be fulfilled,” he said.
The exact details of the Lukashenko-brokered agreement aren’t clear. The Kremlin initially said that Wagner fighters who didn’t take part in the mutiny could sign contracts with the Defense Ministry, but Putin’s comments suggested all members of the mercenary force have the option.
The Kremlin has said that Prigozhin will go to Belarus under the agreement. Prigozhin released an 11-minute audio recording on his Telegram channel on Monday, but his whereabouts are unclear.
In the recording, Prigozhin defended his actions, claiming that he was not trying to overthrow the government. He said his motive was to “prevent the destruction” of Wagner, saying the Private Military Company (PMC) would “cease to exist” by July 1 due to the Russian Defense Ministry’s demand to have all volunteer fighters sign contracts.
He said a Russian missile strike that killed 30 Wagner fighters sparked their march into Russia. But Prigozhin’s claim that the Russian military targeted his fighters has not been confirmed.
According to RT, multiple reports have said that Prigozhin’s fighters shot down a Russian helicopter and airplane during the mutiny, killing 20 Russian airmen. But the figures have not been confirmed as the Russian Defense Ministry hasn’t published an official death toll.
Putin addressed the fact that there were Russian casualties, saying that the “courage and self-sacrifice of the fallen heroic pilots kept Russia safe from tragic destructive consequences.”
Prigozhin acknowledged that his fighters fired on Russian aircraft. “We regret that we had to strike at aviation, but they hurled bombs (at us) and launched missile strikes,” he said.
After launching the insurrection on Friday, the Wagner fighters captured a military base in the city of Rostov-on-Don and were headed toward Moscow on Saturday before turning around after Prigozhin agreed to back down.
“Our decision to turn around was based on two important factors. The first factor is that we did not want to shed Russian blood. The second factor is that we were registering our protest and not seeking to overthrow the government of the country,” Prigozhin said. “At this time, Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko extended his hand and offered to find solutions for the further work of the Wagner PMC within a legal jurisdiction.”
Interesting, Wagner is building new military bases in Belarus just 110 NM north of Kiev.
It will be interesting to watch events unfold over the next month!
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered a choice to the soldiers of the Wagner private military company involved in Saturday’s failed armed rebellion. They can either sign a contract with Russia’s Defense Ministry Ministry or other security agencies, return home or move to neighboring Belarus, the Russian leader said in a televised addressed.”
It’s starting to look as if Prigozhin was just trying to protect his job. If that was his motivation, the agreement allows him to do that. But, at the same time, it releases a lot of the world’s most experienced storm troopers to wear Russian uniforms. I would call that a win/win agreement.
As you say, it will be interesting.
At what point will a proxy war between Russia and NATO become a direct war?
And when that point is reached will NATO be in any condition to fight it?
These are the questions we all need to be asking.
That is what I have been alluding to. This “insurrection” caused a lull. The Kiev/ U.S. forces slept. You can bet the Wagner Group in Belarus has all the toys it said it needed. The Kiev/ U.S. “offensive” will be interesting to watch.
Just waiting for a people friendly coup in the US which does not appear impossible to imagine at this stage.
lets mention that the US is run and controlled by a hugely unpopular military dictatorship which is precisely what has caused all this to occur in the first place.
The big question still is who is in charge in DC? Who would replace Biden and the congress and DoD?
The people will form a more perfect union. It will take all of us to design it. I keep a schematic suggestion online as a public service. Simply select a language at https://www.constituentassembly.org/
I admire your optimism. We need educated, informed voters first. Our education is low quality and we have a corporate owned and controlled MEDIA. The internet postings do show many people do have reading comprehension problems. That supports the reports of low education levels stating a high % of Americans can’t read above 4th grade level. It also explains the easy manipulation of voters.
Control of the educational system, along with control of the media, control of the money supply and spending, bought and sold politicians, that’s a lot to overcome.
The likes of Lloyd Austin and his former empoyer, plus, CEOs of major banks (JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Citi). Corporate fascism is upon us.
All of them are there already, no need for regime change, the army of lobbyists are their proxies. As you said, Corporate fascisms is upon us.
Different factions competing for control however in the end we simply need to put the big finance and a couple of big asset management companies under the microscope.
The US is a military dictatorship supported by borrow and spend democrats and republicans. Evolution to a balanced budget replacement government will hopefully be complete before the US military chokes to death on its own civilian morale management propaganda.
That is a tall order, any rational budget is a pipedream.
Democrats and Republicans are in bed with the military and industrial dictatorship.
The MICC. The nightmare Ike envisioned, I believe.
Well played shorty. Silence any voice of decadence, reposition Wagner, and add additional 150 thousand new recruits for the front line.
Please explain how you came up with 150,000 new private recruits. If that is guaranteed, it’s the most significant detail of the entire “mutiny”.
https://ussanews.com/2023/06/22/russian-army-gets-enough-recruits-to-form-regiment-per-day-shoigu/
Wagner is repositioned, in Balarus.
A friendly fire incident is more plausible than a deliberate attack, time will tell.
President Putin has credibility, he keeps his word by all accounts we know of.
From Moon of Alabama…………..Prigozhin had launched his hopeless mutiny after the Defense Ministry had demanded that all his men sign contacts with the Russian army. That would have taken away the autonomy of his Wagner outlet and with it a large chunk of his profits. The run of his troops towards Moscow was a desperate attempt to get Putin’s attention and to make him reverse the ministry’s plans.
Prigozhin has no military background or education. He has become a liability and he has outstayed his welcome. Shoigu and Gerasimov will not be leaving their positions.
Ukraine is losing the war. Everything is breaking down for Kiev and NATO. Moscow needed a motivation for Kiev and NATO to go on fighting their losing war and continue their own destruction. This is NATO’s Bakhmut and Putin is giving them enough rope to hang themselves.
Both US and Russia have alluded to one more big offensive from the west. I expect the US to assure that much needed adjustments are made to battle tactics.
Last weekend will be forgotten, just like all the other big events. This the nature of a situation where big events happen regularly, especially since we have so little knowledge of what really happened.
What happened in DC, was Nuland involved, which is possible? If so, she really fouled it up, in that case, who would take over the job including handling of Biden? Moscow is only one part of the equation.
You may have little knowledge of what happened but i stay informed. Do not project your ignorance on to me thanks.
Go Woke, Go American Ignorant.
The pro-Russian sites have multiple theories about what really happened. Their are still investigations into various activities. The best that can be said now is that certain theories are the most likely.
The number of theories is dwindling. The only question of significance left from what I can tell is: will Moscow decide that UK involvement requires kinetic activity in retaliation, If so, then one morning I will log in to read about the missiles that were launched at London.
It is not ignorance to look at multiple reasonable theories and not know which is accurate.
On a practical note, this event is part of the past. The new issue of the day is the NATO troops across the Dneiper. Apparently their gear is substantially better than what the Ukrainian cannon fodder had.
It may be that they are still alive because it has taken Russia time to get a decent opposing force to take it out. Yet, it has lasted longer than other forces that Russia has faced recently.
Once look at Belarus tells me that if a great portion of the Wagner Group followed him to Belarus, it would appear that they would flank Kiev and the area between the West of Ukraine and Donbas quiet nicely.
As do the Russian and Belarusian forces that are already there. Even one of which (the militia Lukashenko inaugurated last year) comes to about 10 times as many troops as Wagner in its entirety.
Ukraine is losing the war?
– that’s why they have gained more land than Russia has since September 6/22.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine#/media/File:2022_Russian_Invasion_of_Ukraine_Phase_3_animated_(cropped).gif
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine#Russian_annexations_and_occupation_losses_(6_September_%E2%80%93_11_November_2022)
– that’s why Russia’s GDP has dropped a whopping 12.5% since the war began.
https://tradingeconomics.com/russia/gdp-growth-annual
– that’s why Ukraine is getting ever-more sophisticated weapons from NATO. Whilst Russia is forced to refit, largely obsolete weapons from storage.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/01/28/russia-is-refitting-old-t-72-tanks-for-the-war-in-ukraine-but-its-running-out-of-optics-for-their-crews/?sh=66f578122eb5
It is Russia who is CLEARLY losing this war. Their only real hope is stalemating the war long enough that NATO voters tire of supporting Ukraine.
BTW, I support neither side in this war.
I don’t know what to believe. US legacy media so biased; it lacks credibility. US endlessly claims Ukraine winning war. Russia proclaims all is well. I say it’s a fiasco for all. US has not pushed peace, but rather endless war. Beyond sad.
I agree completely.
Both sides have nothing to be proud of.
Even Kiev is guilty of killing their own people from 2014-2022 when they attacked the breakaway Oblasts Donetsk and Luhansk.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Donbas_(2014%E2%80%932022)
You are right, it is ‘beyond sad’.
The only thing keeping the war going is US money and mercenaries. Hundreds of billions of US dollars, soon to be trillions. The US pays for everything, Government, training, weapons, etc etc etc. Keep in mind this is the most corrupt country in Europe, a Nazi regime ethnically cleansing the Donbass of 6 million of its citizens.
The Nazi’s are back, again we have German tanks on the Russian border covered in Nazi symbols. Again we have Germany committing atrocities, with other European nations, on the Russian border.
This time the Western Powers are fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Nazi’s.
So the US is forcing Russia to keep the illegal invasion of a sovereign nation going?
Riiiiiiiiiiight.
I don’t agree at all with NATO taking sides in this.
But ignoring the fact that Russia tried to conquer Ukraine makes you seem incredibly biased for Russia.
And thus, you are too far down the rabbit hole to be taken seriously on this war.
Both sides are wrong on this.
If you cannot see that.
I feel sorry for you.
There is nothing illegal about the intervention. International law allows for the protection of civilians from mass murder and genocide.
Ukraine lost its sovereignty when Obama overthrew the Rada and placed Nazi’s in power. These Nazi’s in a repeat of WW2 started an ethnic cleansing campaign in the Donbass for Obama. Obama needed to remove approx. 6 million pro government supporters to ensure that his rabidly racist fascist rump Rada could stay in power.
Its an absolute disgrace. As are your comments. History will not treat you and NATO well on this.
You sound like a troll with ready made links.
You also clearly support one side of the war. The one you had a clear set of talking points for.
🤣
You are proving that you are – BY DEFINITION – a troll.
I posted numerous data/facts and I backed them up with links.
I have posted them several times – so they were easy to find again.
It’s called a ‘search engine’.
Now you…on the other hand?
Post NOTHING that disproves the data I posted.
You didn’t even discuss it.
Instead, you immediately resorted to ad hominem attacks to desperately try and deflect my argument. Because you know the facts I post are solid and make the Russian invasion look bad.
Earth to your brain…that is the very definition of a troll.
https://www.howtogeek.com/465416/what-is-an-internet-troll-and-how-to-handle-trolls/
And if you bothered to look around before you open your big, trolling mouth?
You would see that I have liberally knocked both sides of this war.
Like here just 5 days ago.
https://news.antiwar.com/2023/06/21/house-panel-passes-bill-calling-on-biden-to-send-ukraine-long-range-missiles/#comment-6214240532
Free advice.
Calling someone a troll by trolling them makes you look foolish at best.
Stupid at worst.
And since I try not to waste time on trolls? As I consider them the losers of the internet.
We are done here (for now).
Have a nice day.
You may say that but your bias is obvious and it isn’t in favour of Russia.
He also shared the books of Wagnor will be audited to make sure all the Rubles went where there were supposed to go.
I bet there’s quite abit of skim that will give Putin an excuse for retributions.
Or Wagnor is pure as the driven Siberian snow and they are squeaky clean.
The would-be warlord Prigozhin apparently had everything lined up to take control of the Russian Southern Command, and then it was like “ah – nah, I guess I’ll just surrender.” He defended his actions, claiming that he was never trying to overthrow the government. What kind of an insurrection is that? So much for how the Russian state is about to utterly collapse, like what we constantly hear from our illustrious MSM and the Russophobes on this site. Operation Barbarossa II… not.
Prigozhin needs a very long vacation, he bit off more than he could chew.
My guess is that he will have an unfortunate car accident.
It sure is possible, or a helicopter accident. time will tell. He did support and serve the nation well until he lost it.
Maybe I am wrong, but I do smell Nuland and the CIA. Senile Biden would not know, he does not remember where he is.
But Nuland failed to execute the regime change if that is what she aimed for. Elections and so next year, they are desperate.
No, he will lead his forces (that followed him) to act as a pincer against the Kiev forces. Look at the map.
“Biden would not know, he does not remember where he is.”
And if he did, he’d be all in.
Honestly January 6, 2021 was more dire than this supposed coup.
If anything Putin will come out stronger, he has competent people and they are trusted people, they keep their word.
Prig’s claim that 30 Wagner fighters were killed by a missile are obviously false. He posted a video where you see one dead body and something burning in the background.
Prig had clearly been planning this a long time. His incessant demands for more ammunition was a way to stockpile ammo for his attempted coup.
False. He surrendered because of Putin’s speech condemning him, and all of Russian society turned against him. Even those media and bloggers who have criticized the handling of the war opposed Prigozhin. No generals backed him, no politicians, none. He only got ONE officer in Wagner itself to support him. The other officers did not take part. At most one third of Wagner soldiers took part.
Prigozhin demanded that the minister of defense and the top commander would be replaced. If he could reach a position where he dictates these posts, and not the elected president, then he is in effect in charge, and that’s a coup.
British media have been talking about Prigozhin staging a coup for many weeks. And U.S. intelligence knew about it, they write.
How did they know? It is not unlikely that Prigozhin was in contact with the oligarchs who fled to London and Israel and Berlin to avoid being prosecuted for tax evasion and other crimes. As Alexander Mercouris says on YouTube, it wouldn’t be surprising if Prigozhin shows up in the West in the future.
Consider that Prigozhin had turned around to regurgitate Washington’s talking points: Claiming that Zelensky did not plan to invade Donbass. (He doesn’t mention that Zelensky increased the shelling of Donbass to as much as 2,000 times a day in February 2022.) Claiming that there was plenty of possibility to negotiate. (He doesn’t mention that negotiations had reached an agreement, which Boris Johnson shut down by refusing Western support for the agreement.) Claiming that Donbass isn’t Russian. When his followers left Donbass he said they “crossed the state borders,” which contradicts the Russian view that Donbass is part of Russia after the referendum.
That he turns to Biden’s talking points, not mentioning the constant Ukrainian bombing of civilians in Donbass, indicates that he was in contact with people in the West. Again, my guess would be the oligarchs.
The die is cast and Prigozhin’s failed rebellion won’t prevent the planned dissolution of Wagner, his private army.
I feel sure that all these differences can be hashed out over a nice cup of tea.
Germany is transferring a brigade of 4,000 troops to Lithuania on a permanent basis, according to the head of the German Defense Ministry Boris Pistorius at a press conference in Vilnius on June 26.
Lithuania can be considered a Baltic outpost of NATO’s military presence in Russia’s own backyard, given Lithuania borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
Once again we have German tanks on the Russian border, NATO is preparing for war and this time they will fight shoulder to shoulder with Nazi’s, brothers in arms.
Arrest them all as the Supreme International Criminals they are. This is an absolute disgrace.