Moscow [Russia], June 27 : Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday praised security personnel and said they "virtually stopped a civil war" in dealing with Wagner's mutiny on the weekend, CNN reported. He made the remarks at the invitational event of security personnel at the Kremlin.
Putin said, "You defended the constitution, the lives and the freedom of our citizens. You saved our homeland from being shaken up in actual fact... you virtually stopped a civil war," according to CNN.
Putin's statement comes after Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on Saturday said that his troops had taken control of military facilities in two Russian cities. Prigozhin's actions came after he accused Russian forces of striking a Wagner military camp and killing "a huge amount" of his fighters. Russia's Ministry of Defense has denied his claim and termed it an "information provocation."
In his address at the event, Putin said that the security personnel involved in resisting Wagner's failed rebellion "did not flinch." He said that Russia did not remove its security personnel from the ongoing conflict with Ukraine, according to CNN.
He further said that Russian military units "ensured the reliable operation of the most important strategic control centres, including defence facilities, the security of the border regions, the strength of the rear of our armed forces" and "continued to fight heroically on the front."
"We did not have to remove combat units from the special military operation zone. Our comrades fell in the confrontation with the rebels," Putin said as per CNN. He said, "They did not flinch and honourably fulfilled the order and their military duty." He asked people present at the event to hold a "moment of silence" for Russian army pilots who died in fighting with Wagner forces.
He said that the security personnel acted in a "well-coordinated manner" and proved their loyalty to the people of Russia and the military oath. Putin said, "In a difficult situation, you acted clearly, in a well-coordinated manner, by deed you proved your loyalty to the people of Russia and to the military oath, you showed responsibility for the fate of the Motherland and its future."
On Monday, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said the purpose of the march towards Moscow was to stop the destruction of Wagner's private military company and "bring to justice those who, through their unprofessional actions, made a huge number of mistakes during the special military operation".
In an audio message released on Monday, he said that the march was a demonstration of protest and not intended to overthrow power. Explaining his decision to turn around his march on Moscow, Prigozhin said he wanted to avoid Russian bloodshed, CNN reported.
In his new audio message, Prigozhin said that about 30 of his fighters died in the Russian army's attack on the mercenary group on Friday. He said the attack came days before Wagner was scheduled to leave its positions on June 30 and hand over equipment to the Southern Military District in Rostov.
On Saturday, Yevgeny Prigozhin had agreed to depart for Belarus after a deal apparently mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko which ended the armed rebellion, as per the news report. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Lukashenko had suggested the deal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to help resolve the brief mutiny during a phone call on Saturday.
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