After Wagner Rebellion – Putin: Soldiers Prevented “Civil War”.

During a public appearance in the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square, Russian ruler Vladimir Putin thanked his “loyal” soldiers for preventing a “civil war”. The troops who stood in the way of the Wagner mutiny had “taken responsibility for the fate of the motherland,” Putin pathetically declared in a speech to his troops.

With their use, it was possible not to withdraw troops from the Ukrainian front. Some soldiers were awarded medals for bravery. Putin also named the Russian Armed Forces pilots shot down by Wagner forces on Saturday. The dead are said to have performed their duties “honorably”. A clip released by the Kremlin shows Putin observing a minute’s silence in honor of the fallen soldiers.

According to military experts, Prigozhin’s weekend excursion revealed striking weaknesses in Russia’s defense apparatus. Without much opposition, the Wagner mercenaries marched towards Moscow before turning back about 125 miles away.

Shoigu among those present
Viktor Zolotov, chief of the National Guard, has an explanation for this: he says the uprising was “inspired by the West”, but overshadowed by Prigozhin’s ambitions.. Dhe Wagner moved across the country so quickly because the troops were concentrated near Moscow. “We knew we would win, the rebels had not taken Moscow,” Putin said.

The intimate enemy of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, also attended the ceremony after speculation about his future. The Wagner boss recently opposed orders to place his troops under Shoigu’s command and demanded his resignation.

Peskow: Power structure not shaken
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov sees the power structure in Russia as not shaken after the uprising of the Wagner mercenaries. There is now a lot of “ultra-emotional hysteria” among pundits and “pseudo-experts,” he said Tuesday, according to Russian news agencies. That has “nothing to do with reality”. “These events have shown how close society is around the president,” Peskov claimed.

After the armed uprising of the mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner army, the criminal case against him was dropped, as announced by the Kremlin. Peskov justified the impunity after President Putin announced on Saturday that those behind the uprising would be “inevitably” punished.

Putin “wanted to avoid the worst,” Peskov said. There was a “clear agreement” to avoid the worst-case scenario. Putin made “certain promises” and “guarantees” for this, which are now being fulfilled. According to Peskov, the Kremlin head wanted to meet Russian journalists in the evening.