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MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday accused Ukraine and its Western allies of wanting the Russians to “kill each other” during an insurrection of Hezbollah mercenaries. Wagner Groupwho stunned the country with a failed rally in Moscow over the weekend.
In his first address to the nation since the rebels withdrew, Putin said he had given orders to avoid bloodshed, and had granted amnesty to the Wagner fighters whose rebellion had posed the biggest challenge yet to his two-decade rule.
“Since the beginning of the events, on my orders, steps have been taken to avoid large-scale bloodshed,” Putin said in a televised speech, thanking Russians for their “patriotism.”
“It was precisely this fratricidal murder that the enemies of Russia wanted: both the neo-Nazis in Kiev and their Western patrons, and all kinds of patriotic traitors. They wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other,” Putin said.
Putin also thanked his security officials for their work during the armed insurrection in a meeting that included Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the main target of the insurrection.
“Civil solidarity showed that any blackmail and any attempt to organize internal unrest is doomed to failure,” Putin said.
He added that Wagner fighters could choose between joining the Russian army or leaving for Belarus, or even returning home.
“Today you have the possibility to continue serving Russia by concluding a contract with the Ministry of Defense or other law enforcement agencies, or to return to your family and close relatives … everyone who wants to go to Belarus,” Putin said. his address.
Wagner’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin had earlier defended his aborted rebellion as an attempt to salvage mercenary uniforms and expose the failures of Russia’s military leadership — but not to challenge the Kremlin.
The rogue warlord’s first audio message since canceling his forces’ advance on Moscow has been released as Russian officials try to present a return to business as usual to the public.
– ‘Russian domestic affairs’ – In Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said officials were watching “closely” the turmoil in the nuclear-armed country.
“We have already had and been able to have real-time conversations – through diplomatic channels – with Russian officials about our concerns,” he said.
But the State Department said Ambassador Lynn Tracy in Moscow called Russian officials to “reiterate what we’ve said publicly – that this is an internal Russian matter in which the United States is not involved and will not be involved.”
Fighting continued in Ukraine, where Kiev forces achieved new victories in their battle to expel Russian forces from the east and south of the country, but in the Russian capital, the authorities abandoned their enhanced security system.
Prigozhin, who did not reveal where he was speaking, said in an online audio message that his revolt was aimed at preventing the dismantling of Wagner’s power, and bragged that the ease with which it proceeded on Moscow revealed “serious security problems”. .
“We went to show our protest, not to overthrow the power in the country,” Prigozhin said, boasting that his men had “closed all military infrastructure” including air bases along their way to a point less than 200 km (125 mi) from Moscow. .
– BELARUS OPTION – Prigozhin called off the advance and withdrew from a military base his men had seized in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, nerve center in the war in Ukraine, late Saturday after mediation efforts from Belarusian Alexander the Strong. Lukashenko.
Lukashenko was due to speak about the unrest soon, according to his unofficial Telegram channel Pul Pervogo.
Prigozhin said Lukashenko offered him a way to keep the Wagner uniform — a staple of the Russian military machine in Ukraine and in hotspots in Africa and the Middle East — afloat.
Saturday’s extraordinary sequence of events — Russian military bloggers reported that Wagner shot down six Russian helicopters and a command-and-control plane as they advanced — is seen internationally as Russia’s most serious security crisis in decades.
The Kremlin has been on the hook for ensuring that things return to normal.
Wagner’s St. Petersburg headquarters said it remained open for business, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the company would continue to operate in Mali and the Central African Republic.
Officials in Moscow and the Voronezh region, south of the capital, raised emergency “anti-terror” security measures imposed to protect the capital from rebel attack.
– ‘Go ahead’ – Ukrainian military leaders insisted, meanwhile, that they were making progress in the south and east of the country, and President Volodymyr Zelensky made the trip to boost the morale of the troops fighting Russian forces near the city of Bakhmut.
“We are removing the enemy from its positions on the outskirts of Bakhmut,” said Oleksandr Sersky, commander of the ground force in the east. “Ukraine is regaining its territory. We are moving forward.”
Ukrainian residents of the front-line town of Druzkivka near Bakhmut, also in Donetsk, told AFP that four explosions rocked a residential area overnight.
The explosions cut water and sewage pipes, shattered windows, and threw stones that hit yards and rooftops, but municipal authorities said no one was hurt.
“It was a ‘fun’ night, we haven’t had it in a long time, it’s been quiet for a month or so,” said Lyubov, 66, as she showed off the new hole in her cement board roof.
In his first address to the nation since the rebels withdrew, Putin said he had given orders to avoid bloodshed, and had granted amnesty to the Wagner fighters whose rebellion had posed the biggest challenge yet to his two-decade rule.
“Since the beginning of the events, on my orders, steps have been taken to avoid large-scale bloodshed,” Putin said in a televised speech, thanking Russians for their “patriotism.”
“It was precisely this fratricidal murder that the enemies of Russia wanted: both the neo-Nazis in Kiev and their Western patrons, and all kinds of patriotic traitors. They wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other,” Putin said.
Putin also thanked his security officials for their work during the armed insurrection in a meeting that included Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the main target of the insurrection.
“Civil solidarity showed that any blackmail and any attempt to organize internal unrest is doomed to failure,” Putin said.
He added that Wagner fighters could choose between joining the Russian army or leaving for Belarus, or even returning home.
“Today you have the possibility to continue serving Russia by concluding a contract with the Ministry of Defense or other law enforcement agencies, or to return to your family and close relatives … everyone who wants to go to Belarus,” Putin said. his address.
Wagner’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin had earlier defended his aborted rebellion as an attempt to salvage mercenary uniforms and expose the failures of Russia’s military leadership — but not to challenge the Kremlin.
The rogue warlord’s first audio message since canceling his forces’ advance on Moscow has been released as Russian officials try to present a return to business as usual to the public.
– ‘Russian domestic affairs’ – In Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said officials were watching “closely” the turmoil in the nuclear-armed country.
“We have already had and been able to have real-time conversations – through diplomatic channels – with Russian officials about our concerns,” he said.
But the State Department said Ambassador Lynn Tracy in Moscow called Russian officials to “reiterate what we’ve said publicly – that this is an internal Russian matter in which the United States is not involved and will not be involved.”
Fighting continued in Ukraine, where Kiev forces achieved new victories in their battle to expel Russian forces from the east and south of the country, but in the Russian capital, the authorities abandoned their enhanced security system.
Prigozhin, who did not reveal where he was speaking, said in an online audio message that his revolt was aimed at preventing the dismantling of Wagner’s power, and bragged that the ease with which it proceeded on Moscow revealed “serious security problems”. .
“We went to show our protest, not to overthrow the power in the country,” Prigozhin said, boasting that his men had “closed all military infrastructure” including air bases along their way to a point less than 200 km (125 mi) from Moscow. .
– BELARUS OPTION – Prigozhin called off the advance and withdrew from a military base his men had seized in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, nerve center in the war in Ukraine, late Saturday after mediation efforts from Belarusian Alexander the Strong. Lukashenko.
Lukashenko was due to speak about the unrest soon, according to his unofficial Telegram channel Pul Pervogo.
Prigozhin said Lukashenko offered him a way to keep the Wagner uniform — a staple of the Russian military machine in Ukraine and in hotspots in Africa and the Middle East — afloat.
Saturday’s extraordinary sequence of events — Russian military bloggers reported that Wagner shot down six Russian helicopters and a command-and-control plane as they advanced — is seen internationally as Russia’s most serious security crisis in decades.
The Kremlin has been on the hook for ensuring that things return to normal.
Wagner’s St. Petersburg headquarters said it remained open for business, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the company would continue to operate in Mali and the Central African Republic.
Officials in Moscow and the Voronezh region, south of the capital, raised emergency “anti-terror” security measures imposed to protect the capital from rebel attack.
– ‘Go ahead’ – Ukrainian military leaders insisted, meanwhile, that they were making progress in the south and east of the country, and President Volodymyr Zelensky made the trip to boost the morale of the troops fighting Russian forces near the city of Bakhmut.
“We are removing the enemy from its positions on the outskirts of Bakhmut,” said Oleksandr Sersky, commander of the ground force in the east. “Ukraine is regaining its territory. We are moving forward.”
Ukrainian residents of the front-line town of Druzkivka near Bakhmut, also in Donetsk, told AFP that four explosions rocked a residential area overnight.
The explosions cut water and sewage pipes, shattered windows, and threw stones that hit yards and rooftops, but municipal authorities said no one was hurt.
“It was a ‘fun’ night, we haven’t had it in a long time, it’s been quiet for a month or so,” said Lyubov, 66, as she showed off the new hole in her cement board roof.
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