Putin expresses gratitude to Russians for their solidarity and patriotism during the Wagner coup
Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Wagner’s commanders and soldiers who avoided bloodshed, saying most of them were patriots.
Putin said he would keep his promise to allow the Wagner fighters to move to Belarus if they wanted to, sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense or simply return to their families.
He did not mention the mercenary commander Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led the rebellion.
He also said he had given the order to avoid bloodshed during the weekend armed revolt that had shaken his rule, saying the West and Kiev wanted Russians to “kill each other” and thanking the citizens for their “patriotism”.
“Since the beginning of the events, I have taken steps on my orders to avoid large-scale bloodshed,” Putin said in a televised speech, thanking Russians for their “steadfastness, unity and patriotism.”
“It was precisely this fratricidal murder that the enemies of Russia wanted: both the Kiev neo-Nazis and their Western patrons, and all kinds of patriotic traitors. They wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other,” he said.