Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in a televised address to the nation on Saturday, said that the “armed mutiny” by the Wagner Group is a stab in the back” and vowed to punish those who were on the path of treason or anyone who takes up arms against the Russian military.
Putin’s statement comes after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the alleged head of the Wagner mercenary group, in a series of recordings released on social media on Saturday, announced that his troops had taken control of military facilities in two Russian cities. Putin today addressed Russian citizens, the personnel of military and security services, as well as those “who have been pushed to the path of armed insurrection by deception and threats,” state media TASS reported.
In his televised address to the nation, Putin said, “Renegade actions against those fighting in the front is a stab in the back of our country,” CNN reported. Putin also pledged a harsh response and punishment to those who plan “an armed rebellion.”
“We will defend both our people and our statehood from any threats, including internal treachery. What we have been confronted with can be precisely called treachery. The unbounded ambitions and personal interests have led to treason and a betrayal of the country and its people,” Putin was cited by TASS.
“The heroes who liberated Soledar and Artyomovsk, towns and settlements in Donbass, who fought and lost their lives for Novorossiya, for the unity of the Russian world – their name and glory have also been betrayed by those who are trying to stage a mutiny and pushing the country towards anarchy and fratricide, defeat and finally surrender,” Putin said in his address.
Putin in his address said “all kinds of political adventurers and foreign forces, who divided the country and tore it apart, profited from their own interests. We will not let this happen again. We will protect both our people and our statehood from any threats, including internal treachery,” CNN reported.
The Russian president’s statement came hours after The Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia opened a criminal case into a call for an armed mutiny by the Wagner group. The FSB urged Wagner fighters not to obey Prigozhin’s orders and take measures for his detention.
In his address, Putin described Wagner’s actions as “betrayal” and stressed that “any actions that fracture our unity” are “a stab in the back of our country and our people.”
“Those who carry deliberately on a path of treason, preparing an armed rebellion when you were preparing terrorist attacks, will be punished,” Putin said.
He said that “any internal turmoil” is a “deadly threat” to Russia’s statehood and Moscow’s actions to protect the homeland. He noted that such a threat will “face a severe response.”
Calling the situation in Rostov-on-Don “difficult,” Putin in his address noted that the work of civil and military administration had been blocked in Rostov.
“The situation in Rostov-on-Don remains difficult during the armed uprising. In Rostov, the work of civil and military administration is basically blocked,” Putin said as per the CNN report.
