Putin thanks Russians for unity, vows to fulfill promise to Wagner fighters

Russian President Vladimir Putin has delivered another televised address to the nation, thanking Russians for their unity amid the June 24 mutiny attempt. He stressed that from the very beginning, prompt measures had been taken to avoid bloodshed, lauded the courage of military servicemen and law enforcement officers and vowed to fulfill his promise to members of the Wagner private military company.

TASS has collected the key remarks that Putin made in his address.

Betrayal of mutiny organizers

The organizers of the mutiny betrayed their country and their people, as well as those who had stood with them. “Fratricide is exactly what Russia’s enemies wanted, including the neo-Nazis in Kiev, their Western patrons and all sorts of national traitors.” They wanted “Russia to lose in the end” and Russian society to “split and sink into bloody civil discord.”

At the very beginning, the president gave direct orders to take steps to avoid bloodshed: “It required time, particularly in order to give those who had made a mistake to come to their senses and realize that society strongly rejected what they were doing, while the reckless venture they had been dragged into could lead to tragic and destructive consequences for Russia.”

“The armed mutiny would have been suppressed in any case. The mutiny’s organizers, despite their loss of judgment, could not but understand this.”

Patriotic feelings, consolidation of society
The head of state expressed gratitude to military servicemen, law enforcement and intelligence officers, as well as to the hero pilots who had stood up to stop the mutineers.

Putin also noted that public figures, political parties and religious organizations had taken a firm stance in support of constitutional order. He said that the patriotic feelings of Russians and the consolidation of the entire society were crucial in ending the mutiny: “This civic solidarity made it clear that any blackmail and attempts to create internal turmoil were bound to fail.”

In addition, Putin thanked Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for his contribution to resolving the mutiny.
Wagner fighters’ choices
Wagner fighters were being used. “We know that the majority of Wagner fighters and commanders are Russian patriots, devoted to their people and state. They proved it by their courage on the battlefield, liberating Donbass and Novorossiya.”

Putin thanked the Wagner fighters “who made the only right choice and refused to start fratricidal bloodshed.”

The president emphasized that Wagner fighters could either continue their service, entering into a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry, or go to Belarus. “The promise that I made will be fulfilled. I repeat: the choice is yours but I am sure that it will be the choice of Russian soldiers who have realized their tragic mistake,” the head of state said. (BSS/TASS)