Key points from Putin's Wagner mutiny speeches

RT
Tue, 27 Jun 2023 14:39 UTC

© Sputnik/Sergey Pivovarov

Servicemen and military equipment of Russia's private military company Wagner Group are seen on a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

RT has summed up the Russian president's most significant statements regarding the short-lived rebellion by Evgeny Prigozhin's PMC.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has given several speeches describing his attitude to last week's mutiny by the Wagner private military company led by Evgeny Prigozhin.

On Friday evening, Prigozhin directed his forces to march towards large Russian cities with the stated goal of removing several generals whom he accused of treason. The uprising was aborted the following day after Belarus mediated a deal with Moscow.

1. Prigozhin is a traitor

Putin unequivocally condemned Prigozhin's actions, describing them as "treason" motivated by "inflated ambition and personal interests."

Speaking on Saturday before Prigozhin called off the rebellion, Putin said the mutiny came as Russians are "fighting for the lives and security of our people, for our sovereignty and independence" against the entire Western bloc.

The uprising was "in essence a betrayal of our people, of the brothers in arms that are fighting on the front line. It is a stab in the back of our nation and our people," Putin declared.

Russia avoided civil war

Putin compared the situation to what Russia had faced in 1917, when two revolutions happened months apart amid World War I. Victory in that conflict had been "stolen" from the Russian people, the president claimed.

"Intrigues, quarrels, political machinations behind the back of the army and the people led to a great disaster, the destruction of the army and the dissolution of the state, the loss of a large swath of its territory. Ultimately, to the tragedy of the civil war," Putin said in the same speech on Saturday morning.

In an address to the nation on Monday, Putin said the country's foreign enemies had hoped Russian society would "be split asunder and drown in a bloody feud."

On Tuesday, Putin thanked the Russian military and security personnel involved in the response to the crisis for preventing a new civil war.

Wagner troops were deceived

Putin described Wagner troops as victims of Prigozhin's deception, rather than his accomplices. They were heroes because of the sacrifices they made in the Russian military operation in Ukraine, the president added.

"An overwhelming majority of the fighters and commanders of the Wagner Group are patriots of Russia too, who are loyal to their people and the country," Putin stated in his speech on Monday.

He said he had personally ordered "steps to avoid major bloodshed" and had given the insurrectionists time to reconsider their actions, which they did. Wagner troops "stopped at the last line," Putin stated.

Comment: More from RT:

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 or other security agencies, return home or move to neighboring Belarus, the Russian leader said in a televised addressed.

"The overwhelming majority of the fighters and commanders of the Wagner group are also Russian patriots, devoted to their people and country. They proved this with their courage on the battlefield," Putin said in his address on Monday evening.

The organizers of the insurrection "kept them in the dark and tried using them against their brothers in arms, with whom they fought shoulder to shoulder for the sake of the country and its future," he said.

The Russian leader thanked the Wagner soldiers and commanders, who "stopped at the last line" and didn't allow the "fratricidal bloodshed" to take place. He added that the promise he gave during negotiations to settle the crisis will be kept.

"You have the opportunity to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry and other law enforcement agencies or return to your family and friends. Anyone, who wants to, can go to Belarus," Putin said, addressing the members of the private military company.

Military pilots killed during insurrection

While Prigozhin's mutiny did not escalate into widespread bloodshed, his troops did kill several Russian military pilots. They died "confronting the mutineers," Putin said on Tuesday.

"They didn't falter and carried out their orders and military duty with honor," the Russian president declared as he announced a minute of silence to commemorate the fallen officers.

Russia reacted by showing unity

The Russian people reacted to the crisis by showing unity, Putin assessed in the same speech on Tuesday. Ultimately, this consolidation "played the decisive role" in the resolution of the crisis, he said.

During Tuesday's event at the Kremlin, Putin specifically thanked Russian service members for their response.

"In this difficult situation, you acted precisely, cohesively, proved by deed your loyalty to the people of Russia and the military oath, showed responsibility for the fate of your Motherland and its future," Putin said as he praised service personnel.

Comment: More from RT:

Russian President Vladimir Putin credited the patriotic spirit of the nation for avoiding bloodshed over the weekend and again condemned the "treasonous" mutiny by the private military company Wagner, in a speech on Monday evening.

Putin thanked President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus for his "contribution to the peaceful resolution of the situation." He also confirmed the deal struck on Saturday, stating that Wagner members who wish to do so can leave for Belarus, go home, or re-enlist with the Russian military.

"The promise I made will be fulfilled," Putin said. "The choice is yours, but I am sure it will be the choice of Russian soldiers who have realized their tragic mistake."

The president thanked the people of Russia for their "endurance, unity and patriotism" and for showing "firm, unambiguous support for the constitutional order." Attempts to foment internal unrest in Russia are "doomed to failure," Putin added.

The mutiny would have been put down in any case, Putin noted, accusing its organizers of betraying not just the country, but their own men, leading them astray into criminal fratricide.

"They [the West and Ukraine] wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other, so that soldiers and civilians would die, so that in the end Russia would lose, and our society would break apart and choke on bloody civil strife," the president said. "They rubbed their hands, dreaming of getting revenge for their failures at the front and during the so-called counteroffensive, but they miscalculated."

Putin thanked all of the soldiers, police and special services who remained true to their oath, and noted the "courage and self-sacrifice of the heroic fallen pilots" who saved Russia from tragedy.

Again, from RT:

The Russian Defense Ministry has announced preparations for the handover of heavy weapons from the Wagner private military company to units of the national Armed Forces.

A brief statement posted by the ministry on social media on Tuesday confirmed the plan but offered no further details on the arms transfer. The Wagner Group currently has many of the same weapons as regular troops, including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and attack aircraft. Some of them were used by the contractors during their short-lived mutiny last weekend.
...

The insurrection was not bloodless, as Wagner soldiers shot down several Russian military aircraft, while their convoy rolled down the M4 highway. Details on those losses remain murky, but President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the deaths of military pilots during in his address to the nation on Monday. There have been unconfirmed claims that Prigozhin has offered to pay compensation to families of the slain service members.

More from RT:

The Wagner Group was fully dependent on state support, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a meeting with the country's military commanders in the Kremlin on Tuesday. The private military company's fighters were supplied and paid by the Defense Ministry and the state budget, he added.

Between May 2022 and May 2023, the Russian authorities allocated 86.26 billion rubles ($1.04 billion) for wages and incentive payments for the Wagner fighters, the president revealed.

Meanwhile, Wagner founder Evgeny Prigozhin, who also owns the Concord catering company, earned billions of rubles on state contracts, Putin added.

"When the upkeep of the Wagner Group rested on the shoulders of the state, the Concord owner received... 80 billion rubles ($960 million) from the state in a year by supplying food products to the army," the president said.

"I hope that no one stole anything while fulfilling these [contracts]," he continued, adding that the authorities would "certainly dig into it."