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Putin Tells Military They Clearly Prevented Civil War

Sputnik News

20230627
Oleg Burunov

Vladimir Putin thanked all personnel of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as the country's law enforcement agencies and special services for their courage and loyalty to the Russian people.

Military units who took part in the suppression of the attempted armed mutiny on June 24, actually stopped a civil war in Russia, and acted clearly and harmoniously, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

"You defended the constitutional order, and our citizens' lives, security and freedom. You saved our motherland from turmoil, and in fact prevented civil war. In these difficult moments, you acted clearly and harmoniously; through your deeds, you proved your loyalty to the people of Russia and the military oath," Putin said, addressing the security forces who quashed the insurrection.

The Russian president stressed that "today the historic Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin sees servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces, and the Russian Guard, as well as the staff of the Russian National Guard, the FSB, the Interior Ministry, the Federal Protective Service as well as soldiers and officers, who are the real defenders of the Fatherland, and who - at a tough time for the country, along with their comrades - stood in the way of turmoil, the result of which could have inevitably been chaos."

Putin thanked the personnel of the country's armed forces, law enforcement agencies and special services for their "courage, valor and loyalty to the people of Russia."

He said that the people who were sucked into the Wagner mutiny realized that the army and the people were not on the side of the rebels.

"The quick and precise deployment of law enforcement agencies made it possible to stop the extremely dangerous development of the situation in the country, something that helped prevent civilian casualties," Putin emphasized.

The Russian head of state underlined that the determination and courage of the servicemen, as well as "the consolidation of Russian society played a huge and decisive role in stabilizing the situation."

Putin also paid his respects to the military pilots who were killed while trying to take on the mutineers. "Our comrades-in-arms, pilots, died in the confrontation with the mutineers. They didn't flinch and honorably fulfilled the order and their military duty," he said. Putin asked for a minute of silence so his audience could pay their respects to the pilots.

According to him, relocating Russian troops from the special military operation zone to grapple with Wagner's aborted mutiny gamble was not necessary.

"Units of the Defense Ministry, the National Guard as well as the forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and special services ensured the reliable operation of the most important control and strategic centers, the security of border regions, and the strength of the rear of our Armed Forces of all military formations, which continued at that time to heroically fight at the front. We did not have to remove combat units from the special military operation zone," the Russian president pointed out.

Wagner's Aborted Mutiny Plot

The private military company Wagner Group seized a Russian army headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don on Friday night. Prior to that move, Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry of allegedly attacking the military group's field camps. The Russian Defense Ministry rejected the accusation, while the Russian Federal Security Service opened a criminal case against Prigozhin for organizing an armed mutiny.

In the June 24 televised address to the nation, Putin described the actions of PMC Wagner as an armed mutiny and treason, pledging tough measures against the insurgents.

On Saturday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that he had been involved in negotiations with Prigozhin, as agreed with Putin, and they had reached an agreement to de-escalate the situation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Saturday evening that the criminal case against Prigozhin had been dropped and that he would leave for Belarus under guarantees given by Putin. On Tuesday, the Russian Federal Security Service said that the case on the armed mutiny had been dismissed.

© Sputnik