In his first televised address after the short-lived Wagner mutiny was called off, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday thanked his people for unity amid the crisis, vowing that the promises to Wagner fighters, who he believes are mostly patriots devoted to the country, will be fulfilled.
Notably, Putin condemned leaders of the Wagner mercenary group as traitors to Russia in the late-night speech without mentioning anyone by name. This shows that the speech is aimed to achieve a peaceful resolution to the episode and prevent a larger political controversy, according to experts.
Patriotic feelings of Russians and the consolidation of the entire society were crucial in ending the mutiny, Putin said. “This civic solidarity made it clear that any blackmail and attempts to create internal turmoil were bound to fail,” he said, according to TASS.https://tass.com/politics/1638871
Putin lauded the courage of military service people and law enforcement officers and expressed gratitude to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for his efforts in resolving the mutiny.
As to settling the issue of the Wagnar fighters, Putin emphasized they could either choose to continue their service by entering into a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry, or go to Belarus.
“Throughout his remarks, Putin avoided mentioning Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Wagner. This implies that he wants to preserve Prigozhin’s reputation and maintain some flexibility, ensuring that the issue doesn’t escalate further. The measured approach toward Wagner soldiers is to make sure they don’t feel pressured,” Cui Heng, a lecturer at a China Shanghai Cooperation Organization training base for international judicial exchanges and cooperation, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Additionally, Cui said, Putin does not want to completely dismantle the Wagner military organization as it is a major representative of the private armies in the country. Apart from Wagner, there are dozens of private military contractors within Russia. It would not be desirable to cause the complete disarray of these groups that in turn leads to a significant loss of military strength on the battlefield.
For the next step, observers believe that while private armies will continue to exist in Russia, the Putin administration will make sure that those who lead these armies will be “more controllable.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed on Tuesday that preparations are being made for the Wagner Group to hand over heavy military equipment to the Russian Armed Forces.
Meanwhile, the Federal Security Service of Russia has announced it is dropping the investigation into the rebellion and has officially dismissed the criminal charges against Prigozhin.
According to TASS, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that intelligence services are investigating whether Western spy agencies “played a role” in the aborted mutiny by Wagner mercenary fighters.
Breaking a long period of silence since the sudden uprising, US President Joe Biden on Monday sought to distance the US from the rebellion in Russia, insisting that the West “had nothing to do with the mutiny,” and that it was part of a struggle within the Russian system, CNN reported.
Biden and his allies’ relatively restrained statements indicate that they do not want to further exacerbate an already chaotic situation and avoid escalating it into a more serious crisis, such as the use of nuclear arsenals, observers noted.
(Global Times)
