Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the country’s military and law enforcement officers stopped a “civil war” after fighters from the Wagner Group agreed to end their armed rebellion this past weekend.
Putin said in a speech to Russian soldiers and law enforcement officers at the Kremlin that the real army and the Russian people at large did not support the actions of the mercenary organization led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
He slammed the force’s advance toward Moscow in a Monday address to the country, calling the organizers of the rebellion traitors and arguing they were helping the Ukrainian government in the conflict between the two countries.
Putin did not specifically name Prigozhin, but he commended the Wagner Group’s fighters for not allowing the conflict to cause “major bloodshed.”
Prigozhin over the weekend led his private military contractor organization into Russian territory following months of criticizing Kremlin military leadership over its management of the war in Ukraine. He also openly denied Russia’s justification for the war on Friday, saying Ukraine was not threatening Russia in any way when the invasion was launched.
Russia has been largely unable to make gains in Ukrainian territory since last summer, and the two key victories for Russia were delivered by the Wagner Group.
Prigozhin said he wanted to remove Russian Defense Ministry Sergei Shoigu from his post but not overthrow Putin. The group took the town of Rostov-on-Don, where the military headquarters overseeing the war in Ukraine is located, but stood down before reaching Moscow after a deal with the Russian government was reached.
As part of the deal, none of the Wagner Group fighters were to face prosecution for their actions and Prigozhin would be sent to Belarus, an ally of Russia.
The Kremlin released a video on Monday showing Putin meeting with security, law enforcement and military officers, including Shoigu. The Russian president thanked his team for their actions to stop the rebellion, seemingly expressing continued support for Shoigu.
Putin also told the members of the Wagner Group they could join the Russian military, leave their service or go to Belarus.
Prigozhin said on Monday that Belarusian leaders had made proposals to allow Wagner to continue to operate “in a legal jurisdiction.”
The Associated Press contributed.