Over the weekend, Russia plunged into a teensy bit of chaos (or moreso). On Friday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Wagner, Vladimir Putin’s private army, announced he was leading a military rebellion in response to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The coup was called off on Saturday, not long before his army was set to arrive in Moscow. On Monday, Putin finally publicly spoke about the turmoil, and, predictably, he wasn’t happy.
In an address to the nation, Putin called those who orchestrated the aborted rebellion traitors who played into the hands of those who want to see Russia “drowned in a bloody domestic strife.” He also claimed that had the rebellion entered Moscow, the Russian army would have crushed them.
“Any kind of blackmail, any attempts to create internal turmoil are doomed to failure,” Putin declared.
When calling off the rebellion, Prigozhin had cut a deal with the Kremlin, brokered by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, that vowed to drop charges against him and allow him to seek exile. Putin assured Wagner members that they could either join the Russian army or join Prigozhin in Belarus.
Still, Putin wasn’t exactly forgiving. “The organizers of this rebellion not only betrayed their country and their people, but also betrayed those whom they dragged into this mutiny,” he averred.
He did try to be diplomatic. “We know that the overwhelming majority of the Wagner company are also patriots of Russia, faithful to their people and country. They proved it with their courage defending the Donbas and Novorossiya,” he said, nodding to parts of Ukraine where Wagner fought.
“I thank those commanders and soldiers of the Wagner private company who took the only right decision,” Putin added, “and stopped at the last line to prevent bloodshed.”
Whether the famously prickly Putin will make good on his promise to forgive and forget remains to be seen.
In the meantime, the attempted rebellion has seeped into the U.S., where numerous Republicans, and one questionable Democrat, have been spouting conspiracy-laden nonsense.
(Via NBC News)
Source: https://uproxx.com/viral/vladimir-putin-vowed-purge-traitors-military-rebellion/
