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Putin Accuses Wagner Group of Betraying the Russian People

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Putin accuses Wagner Group leaders of betraying Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has lambasted the Wagner Group over last weekend’s brief rebellion, calling them traitors to their country and the fighters under their command.

Putin instructed Wagner paramilitaries to sign contracts with Russia’s defence ministry, go home, or leave the country for Belarus in his first public remarks since the end of warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin’s violent rebellion on Saturday.

In an enraged five-minute speech on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Wagner’s insurrection was doomed from the start. Putin told Wagner’s followers that the mutiny’s organisers had “betrayed the country and those who were with them,” and that the majority of the group’s combatants were “patriots of Russia” who had been “used” by their command.

The Wagner Group militia’s leader has denied attempting to overthrow the Russian government. In an 11-minute audio clip broadcast on Telegram on Monday, Prigozhin reiterated his criticism of the country’s defence establishment, saying his purpose was to protest a recent decision to disband Wagner and highlight the fragility of Russia’s home defence.

“We didn’t have the goal of toppling the existing regime, which was lawfully elected, as we have said many times,” Prigozhin added, without naming Putin.

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Instead, Putin wants to “prevent the destruction” of the paramilitary force and hold accountable those who “made a huge amount of mistakes” during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He claimed that if the regular army had received the same degree of training and morale as Wagner, the war in Ukraine, which began on February 24, last year, could have been over in “less than a day.”

“We demonstrated the level of organisation that the Russian army should have,” Prigozhin stated, alleging that his soldiers travelled 780 kilometres and came to a standstill barely 200 kilometres from Moscow. “It was a masterclass in how the 24th of February 2022 should’ve looked.”

Prigozhin had likewise not been heard from since announcing that his convoy would turn back rather than continue on to Moscow, until his own telegram on Monday afternoon. “Our decision to turn around was influenced by two major factors,” he added. “The first reason was that we didn’t want to shed Russian blood.” Second, we were marching to express our displeasure, not to overthrow the government.”

Prigozhin’s mutiny on Saturday is largely seen as the most serious challenge to Putin’s power since he assumed office 23 years ago.

“This was part of a struggle within the Russian system,” said US Vice President Joe Biden on Monday. “We had absolutely nothing to do with it.”

The EU’s top ambassador, Josep Borrell, called Prigozhin as “the monster acting against his creator,” and claimed the weekend’s tumult demonstrated that Putin’s “military power is cracking.”

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However, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace downplayed the impact on Putin’s authority, saying that “we shouldn’t necessarily over-credit the destabilisation, that somehow this is a massive derailment of the Kremlin.”

Wallace stressed to the Royal United Services Institute think-tank that the war in Ukraine was still being prosecuted by Valery Gerasimov, army chief of staff, and Sergei Shoigu, defence minister, Prigozhin’s biggest detractors within the Russian system.

Prigozhin was still being prosecuted, according to state media on Monday, despite the Kremlin’s statement over the weekend that the legal case against him “will be ended.”

For months, Prigozhin has been railing against Gerasimov and Shoigu, accusing them of killing tens of thousands of Russian soldiers through corruption and poor planning.

The long-running feud came to a head in June, when legislation were approved requiring all irregular forces, including Wagner’s, to profess loyalty to the defence ministry while being absorbed into its structure.

Wagner was willing to follow orders, according to Prigozhin, and began packing up its military equipment last week, with preparations to convoy to Rostov-on-Don on June 30 to hand over everything to the army.

The Russian military then allegedly attacked Wagner base camps on Friday, killing more than two dozen of his troops. On Friday evening, the defence ministry dismissed a similar report.

According to Prigozhin, the militia not only took over Rostov-on-Don, a major southern city and military headquarters, but also disarmed the military obstacles in its route and took over all bases and airfields.

Prigozhin also claimed that they were relieved to see Wagner go. “People greeted us with Russian and Wagner flags…Many of them have continued to express their gratitude, while others are upset that we have stopped.”

Latest Update on Wagner Group Mutiny in Russia

Latest Update on Wagner Group Mutiny in Russia

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