Russian President Vladimir Putin is multiplying speeches, three days after the mutiny of the paramilitary group Wagner that shook the Kremlin. After a first public statement the day before, he addressed the military on Tuesday at a ceremony in Moscow. "You opposed these disturbances, the result of which would inevitably have been chaos," he said, after presiding over a minute's silence in tribute to the soldiers killed during the rebellion. "In effect, you have prevented a civil war," he added.
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While criticism of the Kremlin's handling of this crisis has flared in recent days, the Russian president has also taken advantage of this speech to minimize the significance of this episode and give his version of events.
Neither the army nor the population "was on the side" of Wagner
Neither the regular army nor the Russian population supported Wagner's armed rebellion, the Russian president said in his speech. "The people who were dragged into the rebellion saw that the army and the people were not on their side," Putin said, adding that the work of the security forces "prevented the extremely dangerous development of the situation."
VIDEO. Russia: Vladimir Putin's first public appearance since Wagner's failed mutiny
No Russian soldiers in Ukraine redeployed to Russia
According to Vladimir Putin, no Russian soldiers engaged in Ukraine were redeployed Saturday to Russia to stop the advance of Wagner, who had seized the headquarters of Rostov-on-Don, and had stopped about 200 km from Moscow. "We did not have to withdraw combat units from the area of the special military operation," Putin said.
Nearly one billion euros paid to Wagner over the past year
The paramilitary group Wagner has received nearly a billion euros from Russia over the past year, the Russian president said. "Between May 2022 and May 2023, the state paid 86.262 billion rubles (about 922 million euros at the current rate) for payments from the Wagner Group," he said during a meeting with military officials following the ceremony, broadcast on Russian television. "Everyone who worked for this company, Wagner, enjoys the respect of our country," Putin said.