Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued his first comment since the coup attempt last weekend, declaring that those who plotted the Wagner Group’s insurrection against the federation would face justice.
On Monday night, June 26, Putin confirmed rumours that the mercenary group’s commander, Yevgeny Prigozhin, would face prosecution despite a previous “pardon” from the Russian government.
Prigozhin asked his forces to retire and return to base on Sunday after leading them near to Moscow, Russia’s capital.
The Wagner leader stated that he does not seek to overthrow Putin’s government, but rather to reform the country’s military authorities and exact retribution for an ambush that killed “scores of his men.”
Putin called Prigozhin’s actions a “stab in the back,” saying that Russia would take “brutal” measures to eradicate the Wagner group’s threat.
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Prior to his pronouncements, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) filed criminal charges against the Wagner leader, a former Putin friend, for organizing an armed Coup.
Prigozhin’s charges, however, were dropped and he would travel to Belarus as part of a deal struck by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to stop the Wagner revolt, according to Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson.
Putin described the insurrection as “criminal activity aimed at weakening the country” in a speech.
He said “Any kind of blackmail is doomed to fail” and that the mutiny leaders “wanted our society to be fragmented”.
“The uprising was doomed to fail and its organisers, even though they lost their sense of right and wrong, couldn’t have failed to realise that,” he added.
Putin also thanked Wagner officials who “took the right decision to stop and go back to prevent bloodshed.”
He went on to say that most Wagner mercenaries are “patriots” who were “used” by insurrection organizers and provided them with three options.
“Today you have the opportunity to continue serving Russia by entering into a contract with the Ministry of Defence or other law enforcement agencies, or to return to your family and friends,” he said.
“The choice is yours, but I am sure it will be the choice of Russian soldiers who have realised their tragic mistake.
“The organisers of this rebellion will be brought to justice.”