Russia played a rebate this Monday after the most serious crisis for Vladimir Putin's political system since he came to power on New Year's Day 1999. The Russian president reappeared at night with a televised message to the nation in which he called to the unity of Russia and offered Wagner's mercenaries to join the army or go to Belarus with their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. He did not even mention him by his name, for years his ally, but he assured that he "betrayed the country." He also reappeared, and in an attempt to turn reality around with his statements, he assured that the armed rebellion with which his troops kept the country in suspense for 24 hours, with a march on Moscow, did not intend to overthrow Putin .
“The organizer of the rebellion betrayed the country and those who were with them,” Putin said in a speech lasting just over five minutes. He thanked the commanders of the Wagner Group who withdrew to avoid bloodshed and assured that he would fulfill the promise he made to them on Saturday, when after the agreement reached with the mediation of his Belarusian ally, Alexander Lukashenko, it was possible to end to the uprising
He offered the mercenaries to join the Regular Army or go into exile in Belarus together with Prigozhin. “They have the opportunity to continue serving Russia by signing a contract with the Defense Ministry, return to their family and friends, or those who want can go to Belarus,” he said.
During the day, the Russian authorities tried to provide a sense of calm after the tension experienced over the weekend. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, a technocrat through and through, far from the intrigues of power and decisions about the military campaign in Ukraine, was the last known Russian figure to come out to ask for "loyalty" to the leader. "We must act together, as a team, and maintain the unity of all forces, grouping ourselves around the president," he said at a government meeting.
In the same attempt to appear calm, the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, announced that the counterterrorist regime, in force over the weekend, was annulled. And the authorities released images of the Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, flying in a plane with another soldier and attending to the reports at a command post.
The mutineers had demanded his head, raising speculation that his dismissal was part of the deal reached in extremis on Saturday night. Although some Telegram channels claimed that the images were taken before the crisis, with their dissemination it seems clear that the Kremlin supports Shoigu, who has also been a close friend of Putin for many years.
What was part of what was agreed on Saturday is that the founder and head of the private military company Wagner, the oligarch Yevgueni Prigozhin, would not be prosecuted and that the criminal case opened by the FSB (former Soviet KGB) and the General Prosecutor's Office would close. At the moment, this point had not been met this Monday, according to reports from the official Russian agencies, Tass, Ría Nóvosti and Interfax, as well as the Kommersant newspaper. The crime of armed rebellion is considered in Russia with between 12 and 20 years in prison.
Peskov assured that, as agreed, Prigozhin's accusation would be withdrawn and he would go to Belarus, in an exile of which no details are known but offered by Lukashenko and "guaranteed by Putin," according to Peskov.
As if he wanted to counteract the official position, Prigozhin, 62, broke the silence on Monday that he had maintained since he was seen leaving Rostov-on-Don, the important city that his men occupied, on Saturday night, smiling and greeting the city neighbors from the back of an SUV.
Wagner's boss broadcast an eleven-minute audio in which he assures that with the rebellion of his men he never wanted to overthrow Putin. “We were marching in a protest demonstration, not to overthrow the government of the country,” he said. He also asserted that the move was necessary to prevent the destruction of the company and that he ultimately decided to turn back to prevent the blood of Russian soldiers from being shed.
Before this crisis, Putin had ordered that all “volunteer” units, including private military companies, sign a contract with the Defense Ministry before July 1. In order not to lose control of his mercenary company, Prigozhin flatly refused, while other units, such as the Chechen special forces Ajmat, agreed.
Another goal, he said, was to hold to account military commanders who had failed in the Russian military campaign in Ukraine. He claimed his men did not see combat on the ground in Russia, and regretted having to shoot down Russian planes that had fired on them. “We stopped at the moment when the first assault unit deployed its artillery (near Moscow), we did a reconnaissance and realized that a lot of blood would be shed,” he said.
The advance of Wagner's men from Rostov-on-Don to Moscow, on a 1,000-kilometre march, revealed "serious security problems" in Russia, Prigozhin said in his recording. The controversial businessman assured that his men blocked military installations and that they met little resistance.
He also assured that the population was with them. “Civilians came out to meet us with Russian flags and Wagner emblems, they were happy when we came and walked past them,” he said. In fact, some residents of Rostov greeted the mercenaries enthusiastically on Saturday and took photos with them, despite the nervousness caused by having armed and armored men on the streets of their city.
Prigozhin did not reveal his whereabouts or under what circumstances he is. That he has already started his new life in exile that Lukashenko offered him is something that can only be speculated on.
At the moment, the Verstka research portal published yesterday that they have begun to build camps for mercenaries from the Wagner Group in the Belarusian region of Maguiliov, about 200 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. The sources of this medium specify that there would be several camps, one near the city of Asipóvichi, of 24,000 square meters and capacity for 8,000 beds.
