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A day after an armed rebellion threatened his rule over Russia, President Vladimir Putin declared that the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, would be “put on trial”.
“Any blackmail or attempt to foment internal unrest is doomed to fail,” Putin said in a televised address on Monday night. “The organizers of the rebellion have betrayed their country.”
However, he also appeared to acknowledge that an immunity agreement between the two to end the standoff is being maintained for the time being. Putin said that those who took part in the rebellion would have an opportunity to go to Belarus with Prigozhin and avoid prosecution or return to their families, while giving them an opportunity to repent by turning to the join Russian army.
He did not specifically name Prigozhin or mention a plan to lift the immunity, which analysts say means the Wagner leader can continue to run the group in Belarus without consequences.
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A Kremlin spokesman initially said the speech would “without exaggeration determine the fate of Russia,” but Putin spoke for only about five minutes and provided no significant information about the armed uprising.
He added that the uprising was ultimately crushed by “Russian patriotism” and said that many of the Wagner fighters were also patriots but had been tricked by Prigozhin.
Putin also thanked Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for his help in drafting a treaty. Lukashenko is expected to provide more contract details tomorrow.
Resign
Prigozhin ordered his troops to march on Moscow on Friday after he claimed the Russian military had shelled his forces, putting the Kremlin on high alert given its already weakened defense capabilities.
Prigozhin later denied any coup attempt, but agreed that the uprising exposed Moscow’s security flaws.
Experts agree that the uprising tested Putin’s rise to power. Many argue that cracks in Russia’s power structure will only deepen and that those under Putin will hold more power in the future.