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Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Russian mercenary chief says he did not intend coup, Putin thanks those who stood down


Reuters:

Russian mercenary chief says he did not intend coup, Putin thanks those who stood down

Reuters June 27, 2023


Summary

  • No clue in audio as to Prigozhin's whereabouts, circumstances
  • Putin to keep his promise to let Wagner men go to Belarus
  • Biden says West had nothing to do with aborted mutiny
  • Kremlin meeting said to include defence minister

June 26 (Reuters) - The boss of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, two days after leading an aborted mutiny, on Monday said he never intended to overthrow the government, while Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Wagner fighters who stood down.

Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin gave few clues about his own fate, including his whereabouts, or the deal under which he halted a move toward Moscow.

Putin made a televised address on Monday, his first public comments since Saturday when he said the rebellion put Russia's very existence under threat and that those behind it would be punished.

He thanked the mercenary commanders and soldiers who avoided bloodshed and said he would honour his promise to allow Wagner forces to relocate to Belarus if they wanted, sign a contract with Russia's Defence Ministry or return to their families.

He made no mention of Prigozhin. Also on Monday Putin met with the heads of Russian security services, including Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, IFX reported, citing a Kremlin spokesman.

One of Prigozhin's principal demands had been that Shoigu be sacked, along with Russia's top general, who by Monday evening had yet to appear in public since the mutiny.


PRIGOZHIN WHEREABOUTS UNCLEAR


Last seen on Saturday night smiling and high-fiving bystanders from the back of an SUV as he withdrew from a city occupied by his men, Prigozhin said his fighters had halted their campaign in order to avert bloodshed.

"We went as a demonstration of protest, not to overthrow the government of the country," Prigozhin said in an 11-minute audio message.

He said his goal was to prevent his Wagner militia's destruction, and to force accountability on commanders who had botched Russia's military campaign in Ukraine. He said his fighters did not engage in ground combat in Russia, and regretted having to shoot down Russian aircraft that fired on them.

"We halted at the moment when the first assault unit deployed its artillery (near Moscow), conducted reconnaissance and realised that a lot of blood would be spilled."

He made no direct reference to his own whereabouts, or provide further details of the mysterious agreement that had brought a halt to his mutiny.

On Saturday Prigozhin had said he was leaving for Belarus under a deal brokered by its president, Alexander Lukashenko. In Monday's remarks he said Lukashenko had offered to let Wagner operate under a legal framework, but did not elaborate.

The White House said it could not confirm whether the Wagner chief was in Belarus.


'NOTHING TO DO WITH IT'



Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves the headquarters of the Southern Military District amid the group's pullout from the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File photo


Prigozhin shocked the world by leading Saturday's armed revolt, only to abruptly call it off as his fighters approached the capital having shot down several aircraft but meeting no resistance on the ground during a dash of nearly 800 km (500 miles).

Russia's three main news agencies reported on Monday that a criminal case against Prigozhin had not been closed, an apparent reversal of an offer of immunity publicised as part of the deal that persuaded him to stand down.

U.S. President Joe Biden called the mutiny "part of a struggle within the Russian system". He discussed it in a conference call with key allies who agreed it was vital not to let Putin blame it on the West or NATO, he said.

"We made it clear that we were not involved. We had nothing to do with it," Biden said.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said it was "a new thing to see President Putin's leadership directly challenged. It is a new thing to see Yevgeny Prigozhin directly questioning the rationale for this war and calling out that the war has been conducted essentially based on a lie."

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said U.S. policy did not seek to change the government in Russia.


PROJECTING CALM


Russian officials sought to project calm. Russia's national Anti-Terrorism Committee said the situation in the country was stable. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who had told residents to stay indoors on Saturday as the mutinous fighters raced to within a few hundred kilometres of the capital, said he was cancelling a counter-terrorism security regime.

Foreign governments, both friendly and hostile to Russia, were left groping for answers to what had happened behind the scenes and what could come next.

Russia's ally China, where a senior Russian diplomat visited on Sunday, said it supported Moscow in maintaining national stability.

Ukraine and its Western allies said the turmoil revealed cracks in Putin's Russia.

"The political system is showing fragilities, and the military power is cracking," European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in Luxembourg as he arrived for a meeting with ministers from across the 27-member bloc.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia's intelligence services were investigating whether Western spy agencies played a role in the aborted mutiny, the TASS news agency reported. It cited no evidence.

Prigozhin, 62, a former Putin ally and ex-convict whose forces have fought the bloodiest battles of the 16-month war in Ukraine, defied orders this month to place his troops under Defence Ministry command.

Ukraine hopes the chaos caused by the mutiny will undermine Russia's defences as Kyiv presses on with a counteroffensive, begun earlier this month to recapture territory which Moscow claims to have annexed.

On Monday, Ukraine said its forces had recaptured the small southern village of Rivnopil, the ninth village it says it has retaken since launching the counteroffensive, and first in more than a week. Russia said it had foiled Ukrainian attacks.


12 comments:

  1. For about 24 hours, Puting was peeing and shitting in his panties....there were no Russki heavy units available between the advancing Wagner tanks and Moscow.

    The entire Russki combat army has been committed to invade Ukraine...the only units inside Russki are Internal Security Troops, incapable to fight tanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Prigozhin's life expectancy is now less than 90 days.

    This was Ugly Vs Ugly, and the one who blinked will die very soon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. https://twitter.com/Najadi4Justice/status/1673413625724141568?s=20

    Twitter channel of Pascal Najadi, son of slained Arab-Malaysian Bank founder, Hussain Najadi.

    Is he some overrated empty tin can or does he has something to hint at with his connection to the right people in Switzerland, UK, US, Russia and elsewhere where he had rendered his services before?

    We'll find out if he is an empty know nothing or not...

    P/S watch out for update on his personal health status, which he put out from time to time...

    ReplyDelete
  4. ...or, just maybe, he knows a thing or two...

    https://t.me/PascalNajadiNEWS/1121?single

    ReplyDelete
  5. Disclaimer, from the "About Us" section of the website hosting the video of the interview,

    "FBI is a non-profit organization founded with the assistance of Russian entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin."

    Hope no one get hardup on the messenger instead of listening in and evaluating the message...

    ReplyDelete
  6. read somewhere (Indian media?) that the Wagner pretend-mutiny was to draw out "traitors" in Russia's upper echelon, to see who would side with the mutineers

    another story was to "position" Wagner in Belarus to strike at Ukraine from there?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We'll find out (or not for some)...in any case, a prayer for those who had died, for whatever reasons, from both side. I don't seek to be right because everything is still a fog of war. No point arguing, no point trying to be right, although undeniably, it does concerns me because I'm paying the price through high price for goods and services now, as elsewhere in the world.

      To a better world when this is over.

      P/s do watch out for the "crazies" now in Belarus through that progozin stunt, it can be a grouping onward towards Kiev, or small group of special forces sabotaging selected targets in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. There are lots of descendants of crazies in the 3 small Baltic states operating at the highest level now. I asked a question in a FMT tweet of an AFP article titled, "Is this the beginning of the end of Putin?", How about, "Is this the beginning of the end of N.4.T.0.?"

      Cheers.

      Delete
  7. Meanwhile...

    "Kevin McCarthy says that the House will start impeachment inquiries on AG Garland if the Hunter Biden IRS whistleblower information turns out to be true.
    Whether this accomplishes anything or not, one thing I've noticed is that the rhetoric coming from Republicans seems to be amping up significantly as Biden's treasonous money scheme continues to be spotlighted."

    https://t.me/WeTheMedia/88882

    Note: there is a video of an interview with current Speaker of the House ~mf

    All the "crazies" are being put on show for all to see. Will the hammer drop? Inside source gave hint long ago, "Do you really expect wrong doings to go unpunished?" Paraphrase. But when will anyone get to see any of the crazies get their due? Just have to wait for it...

    ReplyDelete
  8. One possibility is Putin's masterly executed plan in settling the infightings between Wagner & the official Russia military echelons.

    Prigozhen is only a non-military trained front-page boy of Wagner. There r able military strategist, especially Dmitry Utkin who is a former officer in Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU.

    Putin needs a white glove unit to do his dirty works outside of the normal Russian military rank & file.

    But as Wagner gets too strongly & famous after the Bakhmut battle, it's time to trimm Wagner down to its proper setting within the Russian military hierarchy.

    This orchestrated mutiny - openly declared to be against the Russian military top brasses but not Putin per se - gave it a comical twist that resulting in an abruptly withdrawal in less than 24hr.

    Prigozhen is given a transient exit while nothing was mentioned about Utkin, the ultimate commander of Wagner.

    Putin didn't get to where he is today W/O a brilliant mind of his own standing - give it a thought!

    ReplyDelete
  9. "James Comer says that even more wire transfers are going to be revealed from more countries besides China and Romania.
    This includes Ukraine and Russia.
    While all the normies focus their attention on Ukraine, wire transfers are being unveiled that clearly show how corrupt that country is.
    What are the chances?
    It sure feels like they are carpet bombing the news cycle with waves of red pills about Biden's corruption.
    He's the perfect icon for such a display."

    https://t.me/PepeMatter/16058

    Note: Media interview with an R committee member attached in the link

    ReplyDelete
  10. https://t.me/PepeMatter/16074

    "WHOOOPS - Biden with the worst Freudian slip he's had to date

    "I sold a lot of state secrets and a lot of very important things..."

    The Deep State is completely regretting their choice for president right now "

    Real JB said this, really, a Freudian slip? Hmmm...

    ReplyDelete
  11. https://twitter.com/patricksavalle/status/1673407754596151300?s=20

    If you think this is one of those Monty Python thing and needed to remove, please feel free. Couldn't tell if it is one...

    ReplyDelete