In the republics of Donbass, there were no sympathizers for Yevgeny Prigozhin

The authorities of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, as in most regions of the Russian Federation, expressed unanimous support for President Vladimir Putin on the day of the armed rebellion initiated by the Wagner PMC. There were no sympathizers for Yevgeny Prigozhin in the Donbass.

The first public reaction to the armed uprising appeared in the DPR at about 10:00 on Saturday, June 24, during President Vladimir Putin’s address. Elena Shishkina, a member of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society and human rights, a deputy of the People’s Council of the DPR, noted the importance of uniting and repelling an external threat, and saw signs of terrorism in Prigozhin’s actions. “Today was a strange night: the guys in the Donetsk agglomeration defended our Russian land, as they have done for the last nine years, and people in trousers and with weapons were planning some kind of campaign against Moscow …” Shishkina was perplexed in her Telegram channel.

Following the acting head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin published in his Telegram channel: “Donetsk People’s Republic with the President.” Two hours later, he published a video in which he noted that for him what was happening was “a particularly painful topic because Artemovsk (Ukrainian name – Bakhmut. – Vedomosti) was recently liberated, it was given at a very high price, and the guys- “Wagner” sometimes did the impossible.”

At the same time, Pushilin stressed that in order to achieve a comprehensive victory, rallying around the supreme commander is necessary. “Any confrontations inside never before and now will not be able to lead to the achievement of the set goals,” the acting head of the DPR emphasized, adding that on the front line the fighters are in their places, repel enemy attacks and even move forward.

By lunchtime, the municipalities began to speak out. The mayor of Donetsk, Aleksey Kulemzin, said that insults and ambitions are unacceptable in the face of internal and external challenges. He described Prigogine’s actions as provocative. Vladislav Klyucharov, the head of the administration of Makeevka, which is the second most populous city in the republic, also called for unity for the sake of victory and support for the president. Mayor of Mariupol Oleg Morgun noted the significant assistance of the country and the personal attention of the president in the restoration of the city, emphasizing that “our city and all Mariupol residents clearly declare: we are together with all of Russia, we are for our president, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.”

In the Telegram channels of local administrations in the afternoon, they began to post interviews with local residents who expressed support for the president and called for unity. The speaker of the DPR parliament, Vladimir Bidyovka, said that now “there is no place for internal strife, betrayal and armed rebellion.” Almost an hour ahead of her senior colleague, the chairman of the Youth Parliament of the Republic Ekaterina Yaremenko. She calculated that next year marks 10 years since the start of the conflict in Donbass, remembering that all this time Putin supported the inhabitants of the region. Yaremenko said that the youth of the DPR understands that “the decisions of our commander-in-chief are the only true and correct.”

In the LPR, almost immediately after Vladimir Putin’s official statement, the authorities declared their full support. “We are a single country, and we are with our president! Today it is important to be guided only by the interests of the country, its inhabitants, and all disagreements must be forgotten until the Victory. Victory, which is sure to be ours! Let’s not give pleasure to our enemies, succumb to provocations, ”Leonid Pasechnik, acting head of the LPR, said on his Telegram channel.

Prime Minister of the LPR Sergey Kozlov also spoke with words of support for Putin: “The position of the government is unequivocal. Now we need only one thing – to unite and go to the Victory. To Victory – one for all. And no compromises. We are with the President!” Chairman of the LPR Parliament Denis Miroshnichenko condemned the actions of the Wagner PMC. “Each of us is aware that now our country is waging a war for survival. Here, in the LPR, we see this especially clearly. It is unacceptable to bring joy to the enemy by showdowns among patriots! No personal grievances can be an excuse. Grievances must be forgotten until complete Victory, ”he said.

Almost all heads of administrations of cities and regions of the LPR made appeals in which they assured residents that the authorities were in solidarity with the Russian president. The situation in the LPR remained calm, no provocations were recorded. On the evening of June 24, Pasechnik issued a second statement thanking the residents for their firm and “unequivocal” support for the authorities.

“Representatives of the authorities and public figures, religious figures and work collectives of enterprises – today we once again proved our unity in the face of a common danger and unanimously said: we will not allow a stab in the back to our soldiers defending the Luhansk region from Nazism,” said the acting head LPR.

State Duma deputy Viktor Vodolatsky, who oversees the LPR, explained to Vedomosti the lack of support for Yevgeny Prigozhin in the region by the fact that the actions of Wagner PMC caused damage to Russia’s national security, and all public politicians of the republic strongly urged people to rally around Vladimir Putin. Vodolatsky noted that Prigozhin also did not support the 2nd Army Corps of the LPR, which participated in joint operations with Wagner when occupying settlements during a special operation.

After Putin’s morning address, in which he announced an armed rebellion and called its participants traitors, political players quickly began to demonstrate their unconditional loyalty and sharp rejection of Prigozhin, says political analyst Alexei Makarkin. “And in the late afternoon, when it turned out that an agreement had been reached, the same people who enter the system tried to basically not comment. Because many did not want to make mistakes, and any nuance could be regarded as a mistake. Nobody wanted to miss,” he told Vedomosti.