Putin says prevented Russians kill each other in Wagner’s mutiny

"From the start of the events, on my orders, steps were taken to avoid large-scale bloodshed," Putin said in a Monday televised address to the nation.

"Time was needed, among other things, to give those who had made a mistake a chance to come to their senses, to realize that their actions were firmly rejected by society, and that the adventure in which they had been involved had tragic and destructive consequences for Russia and for our state."

The Russian president also lauded his fellow countrymen for their "endurance unity, and patriotism."

"It was precisely this fratricide that Russia's enemies wanted: both the neo-Nazis in Kiev and their Western patrons, and all sorts of national traitors. They wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other," Putin added.

He warned that any attempt to sow unrest in Russia would fail, saying, "Civilian solidarity showed that any blackmail, [and] any attempts to organize internal turmoil is doomed to fail."

The Russian president also thanked Wagner fighters and commanders who stood down to avoid bloodshed, saying he would honor his promise to allow them to relocate to Belarus if they wanted, or to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry, or simply return to their families.

"Today, you have the possibility to continue serving Russia by entering into a contract with the Ministry of Defense or other law enforcement agencies, or to return to your family and close ones... Whoever wants to can go to Belarus," he said.

Putin, however, made no mention of the group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who initiated the mutiny.

"Virtually the entirety of Russian society... was united by its responsibility to defend their homeland," the Russian president said, adding that most Wagner fighters were "patriots" who were "used" by organizers of the mutiny.

"The organizers of the mutiny, having betrayed their country, their people, also betrayed those whom they dragged into the crime. They lied to them, they pushed them to death," he said.

Following his address, Putin attended a meeting of Russia’s security officials.
In his address to the meeting, Putin thanked his security officials for their work during the armed mutiny, saying, "I gathered you to thank you for the work that was done."

The mutiny started over differences between Prigozhin and Shoigu.

The Wagner leader, a former close ally of Putin, was critical of Russia’s military leadership and their handling of the war in Ukraine, saying if his troops carried out the first attacks in the military campaign in Ukraine, the war would have been over much sooner.

Before the mutiny ended, Prigozhin had threatened to “go all the way” to topple Russia's military leadership, accusing Shoigu and Russia's top general, Valery Gerasimov, of not giving his forces ammunition.