Moscow: During a revolt by mercenaries of the Wagner group, who shocked the nation with an aborted march on Moscow over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine and its Western allies of wanting Russians to "kill each other" on Monday.
In his first speech to the country since the rebels withdrew, Putin paid tribute to the pilots who lost their lives suppressing the failed uprising, officially confirming for the first time that Russian aviators had died in combat as the Wagner mercenary group advanced on Moscow.
The Wagner fighters' mutiny presented his two-decade rule with its greatest challenge yet, he claimed, and as a result, he had issued orders to prevent bloodshed and granted amnesty to them.
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As he thanked Russians for their "patriotism," Putin said in a televised address, "Steps were taken on my orders to avoid large-scale bloodshed from the beginning of the events."
"The neo-Nazis in Kyiv and their Western backers, as well as a variety of other national traitors, wanted precisely this fratricide, and so did Russia's enemies. According to Putin, they wanted Russian soldiers to murder one another.
In a meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who was a primary target of the uprising, Putin also expressed gratitude for the work done by his security personnel during the armed uprising.
According to Putin, "civilian solidarity showed that any attempt to incite internal unrest or use blackmail will fail."
Putin's comments corroborated social media reports that Russian aircraft had been shot down by Wagner forces during the conflict.
He continued by saying that the rebellion threatened Russia's very existence and that those responsible would be punished. "The courage and self-sacrifice of the fallen heroes-pilots saved Russia from tragic devastating consequences," he said. How many pilots perished or how many aircraft were shot down is unknown officially.
13 Russian pilots were reportedly killed during the daylong mutiny, according to some Russian Telegram channels that keep tabs on Russia's military activity, such as the blog Rybar, which has more than a million subscribers.
Three Mi-8 MTPR electronic warfare helicopters and an Il-18 with its crew were among the downed aircraft, according to Rybar. Furthermore, it was unclear under what conditions the planes were shot down and their pilots were killed. After the Wagner forces withdrew and Prigozhin agreed to go into exile in neighbouring Belarus, Putin claimed that "steps were taken on my direct instruction to avoid serious bloodshed" during the uprising. A period of time was necessary, according to Putin, "among other things, to give those who had erred the chance to come to their senses, to realise 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."
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner, also spoke in an 11-minute audio message that was posted on his press service's Telegram channel, but he provided few details about his whereabouts or the agreement that caused him to halt the march towards Moscow.
Before abruptly ending the uprising, he claimed that his men had been forced to shoot down helicopters that had attacked them as they travelled nearly 800 kilometres (500 miles) from the south to the capital. Following his decision to invade Ukraine 16 months ago, many Western leaders believed that the unrest exposed Putin's vulnerability.
The Russian president declared that he would keep his promise from the previous weekend to permit the Wagner forces to move to Belarus, sign a contract with Russia's Defence Ministry, or go home to their families.
"Today, you have the option of returning to your family and close friends or of continuing to serve Russia by signing a contract with the Ministry of Defence or other law enforcement organisations... Anyone can travel to Belarus if they so choose, according to Putin.
Putin praised the fighters and commanders of the Wagner movement who withdrew in order to stop what he called "fratricidal bloodshed," and claimed that the vast majority of the movement's members were patriots.
He didn't mention Prigozhin at all. According to IFX, which cited a Kremlin spokesperson, Putin met with the leaders of the Russian security services on Monday night, including Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
One of Prigozhin's main demands was the dismissal of Shoigu and Russia's top general, who as of Monday night had not made an appearance in public since the mutiny.
This month, Prigozhin, a 62-year-old former ally of Putin and ex-convict whose forces have participated in some of the bloodiest battles of the Ukraine conflict, disobeyed orders to place his troops under the command of the Defence Ministry.
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Prior to this, Prigozhin had defended his aborted mutiny as an attempt to save his mercenary company and highlight the shortcomings of Russia's military leadership, rather than to overthrow the Kremlin.
In an online audio message, Prigozhin, who remained anonymous, claimed that his revolt was meant to stop his Wagner force from being dismantled and boasted that the ease with which it had approached Moscow revealed "serious security problems."
Prigozhin boasted that his men had "blocked all military infrastructure" along their path towards a location less than 200 kilometres (125 miles) from Moscow. "We went to demonstrate our protest and not to overthrow power in the country," Prigozhin said.
Late on Saturday, in response to mediation efforts from Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko, Prighozin halted the advance and withdrew his troops from a military base they had seized in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, a flashpoint of the Ukrainian conflict.
Prigozhin claimed his fighters had halted their campaign to avoid bloodshed when he was last seen on Saturday night smiling and high-fiving bystanders from the back of an SUV as he withdrew from a Russian city occupied by his men.
Prigozhin announced on Saturday that he was departing for Belarus as part of a deal mediated by Alexander Lukashenko, the president of that country. He didn't go into further detail when he said Lukashenko had offered to allow Wagner to operate within a legal framework on Monday.
The White House stated that it was unable to confirm the Wagner chief's whereabouts in Belarus. In an apparent reversal of an offer of immunity made public as part of the agreement that persuaded Prigozhin to plead guilty, Russia's three major news agencies reported on Monday that a criminal case against Prigozhin had not been closed.
The Saint Petersburg office of Wagner said it was still open for business, and Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said the company would continue to operate in Mali and the Central African Republic. In order to defend the capital from rebel attack, authorities in Moscow and the Voronezh region to the south of the city lifted "anti-terrorist" emergency security measures.
Before giving a speech in Washington, US President Joe Biden described the mutiny as "part of a struggle within the Russian system." He discussed it over a conference call with important allies, who concurred that it was crucial to prevent Putin from attributing the incident to the West or NATO.
"We were not involved, as we made clear. Biden stated, "We had nothing to do with it. John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House on national security, claimed that US policy did not aim to overthrow the Russian government.
According to the State Department, Russian officials were contacted by Ambassador Lynne Tracy in Moscow "to reiterate what we said publicly — that this is an internal Russian matter in which the United States is not involved and will not be."
Both friendly and hostile foreign governments towards Russia were left scratching their heads over what had gone on behind the scenes and what might happen next.
Josep Borrell, the head of the European Union's foreign policy, told reporters in Luxembourg that "the political system is showing fragilities and the military power is cracking."
In his nightly video address from a train after visiting frontline positions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that the military had made progress on Monday in all areas of the front line. He dubbed it a "happy day" and said the military had advanced in all areas of the front line.
Fighting went on in Ukraine, where Kyiv's forces claimed new victories in their fight to drive Russian troops out of the country's east and south, but authorities in Moscow halted their increased security measures.
Zelensky visited troops engaged in combat with Russian forces close to the city of Bakhmut, the scene of some of the most intense battles of the conflict, to boost morale and boast about his force's military advancement.
In his regularly scheduled evening address on Monday, Zelensky said, "Today, our soldiers made progress in all areas, and this is a happy day." Military leaders claimed that their troops were making progress in the country's south and east.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of the eastern ground force, stated that "we are forcing the enemy from its positions on the flanks of the city of Bakhmut." "Ukraine is taking back its former lands. We are making progress.
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Residents of the frontline Donetsk town of Druzhkivka told AFP that four explosions had rocked a residential area overnight close to Bakhmut. Municipal officials reported that no one was hurt despite the blasts severing water and sewage pipes, shattering windows, and sending up stones that hit yards and roofs. Lyubov, 66, pointed out the new hole in her cement-shingled roof and said, "It was a 'fun' night, we haven't had this in a long time, it's been quiet for about a month."