June 27 (UPI) — Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke out Monday for the first time since hundreds of armed Wagner mercenaries briefly challenged Russia’s military leadership, calling on rebellion organizers to be “brought to justice.”
“This is criminal activity, which is aimed at weakening the country. This is a colossal threat,” Putin said in a five-minute televised address to the nation.
Putin, who appeared visibly angry, said while Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin called off the rebellion shortly after it started, the “armed rebellion would have been put down anyway.”
“Civic solidarity has shown that any blackmail attempts to create internal unrest are doomed to failure,” Putin said. “They wanted Russians to fight each other. They rubbed their hands, dreaming of taking revenge for their failures at the front and during the so-called counteroffensive. But they miscalculated.”
Putin blasted the uprising as traitorous and claimed Russia has united in its support of his leadership, saying the mercenaries actions “are resolutely rejected by the society.”
Earlier Monday, Prigozhin posted an 11-minute audio message, saying his mercenaries did not march on Moscow over the weekend to overthrow Putin and seize control of the Kremlin, but to protest the dissolution of his private army.
“The aim of the march was to avoid destruction of Wagner and to hold to account the officials who through their unprofessional actions have committed a massive number of errors,” Prigozhin said.
Prigozhin ordered hundreds of armored vehicles and fighters to turn back Saturday after they took control of the southern city of Rostov and came within 200 miles of Moscow.
During his speech, Putin thanked those involved in the mutiny who “made the only right decision — they did not go to fratricidal bloodshed, they stopped at the last line.”
The Russian president has granted clemency to the Wagner mercenaries, saying he would permit them to join the Russian army by July 1 or to leave the country for neighboring Belarus. There are reports Prigozhin is staying in a hotel with no windows in Minsk, according to Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
According to Tass, a Russian state news agency, at least 10 volunteer mercenary groups have signed contracts to join the Russian army.
While the fate of the Wagner group remains uncertain, Russian state media reported Sunday that Wagner troops had returned to their camps in Ukraine‘s eastern Luhansk region.
