Russian President Vladimir Putin made a defiant televised address on Monday evening (Jun 26), saying he had deliberately let Saturday's 24-hour mutiny by the Wagner militia go on as long as it did to avoid bloodshed, and that it had reinforced national unity.
The statement, his first on the issue since he spoke on Saturday promising to crush the mutiny, appeared intended to draw a line under an event that numerous Western leaders saw as exposing Putin's vulnerability since invading Ukraine 16 months ago.
Wagner's fighters, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, succeeded in taking control of the city of Rostov-on-Don with its military command centre steering the Ukraine campaign, and driving an armed convoy across Russia to within 200km of Moscow.
"From the very beginning of the events, steps were taken on my direct instruction to avoid serious bloodshed," Putin said.
"Time was needed, among other things, to give those who had made a mistake a 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."
Putin made no mention of Prigozhin, who had demanded that Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, come to Rostov to speak to him. Prigozhin called for both of them to be dismissed.
Nor did Putin mention any planned personnel changes at the Defence Ministry, although at around 11pm Moscow time he was shown on television addressing a meeting of heads of his security departments, including Shoigu.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiZ2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvcnVzc2lhcy1wdXRpbi1zYXlzLWhlLWxldC1tdXRpbnktY29udGludWUtYXZvaWQtYmxvb2RzaGVkLTM1ODgxNTbSAQA?oc=5
2023-06-26 21:24:00Z
2167194887
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar