Putin backtracks on pardon for Wagner fighters, vows to ‘punish people behind mutiny’

The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, on Monday, promised to bring to justice all individuals behind last week’s Wagner Group’s rebellion against the country.

Moscow had earlier promised to drop all charges against the group members after the Belarusian leader, Alexander Lukashenko’s intervention.

The country was thrown into crisis on Friday after Prigozhin, a one-time ally of the president, stepped up his feud with Moscow’s security establishment over the handling of the invasion of Ukraine with a series of military moves in Rostov-on-Don.

He later told his forces to return to their bases to “avoid bloodshed following a telephone conversation with Lukashenko.

Putin, who spoke in Moscow, said Prigozhin would face charges despite a previous “pardon” by the government.

READ ALSO: Putin slams Wagner Chief, Prigozhin, over vow to topple Russian military leaders

He described Wagner’s rebellion as a criminal activity aimed at weakening the country.

Putin insisted that Prigozhin’s actions were a “stab in the back”, promising that Moscow would take “brutal” actions to eliminate the threat posed by the group.

The president, however, thanked Wagner officials who stepped back from the rebellion in order to prevent bloodshed in Russia.

According to him, many of the mercenaries are patriots used by organisers of the rebellion to destabilize the country.

“The uprising was doomed to fail and its organisers, even though they lost their sense of right and wrong, couldn’t have failed to realise that,” he stated.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now