Vladimir Putin said that it was

President Vladimir Putin summed up the rebellion of businessman, founder of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin. In several speeches, he thanked the Russians for their consolidation, and the military, law enforcement and special services for confronting PMCs without loss of civilian life. Wagner fighters, whose leadership Putin accused of making money on state contracts, are forgiven

Vladimir Putin has never addressed the Russians on one topic with such intensity as in recent days. After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, the president, of course, used this genre, but not often: on February 24 (the start of a military special operation) and September 21, 2022 (partial mobilization). Prior to this, the occasions were also quite planned: elections, New Year and coronavirus. It seems that the pandemic has opened the practice of “thematic” speeches of the President on TV.

The public reaction to the campaign of the founder of Wagner, which began on the night of June 24, from the places of deployment to Moscow was, one might say, lightning fast. Both observers and participants in the administrative system, and PMC fighters, had to say something. And the recipients were clearly waiting for the message. As a result, Putin’s first speech, for example, was watched by a record number of viewers – 8 million people (according to Mediascope).

It was shown on TV the very next morning after the start of the armed rebellion (then the Wagnerites occupied Rostov-on-Don and moved on towards Moscow). And Putin accused the rebels of “stab in the back”, of betrayal. And that they are “pushing the country towards anarchy and fratricide,” comparing the current situation with the beginning of a civil war.

At that moment, as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko later explained, it was not the situation with the rebellion itself that was dangerous, but “its consequences” (see article on p. 10). Especially if a decision is made to “wet” the forces going to the capital. Lukashenka here, we can assume, supplemented Putin. If the latter decided to “wet” the rebels, then this would be a sign of that same civil war.

And bloodshed inside Russia, as an interlocutor who has been working in the civil service for a long time, Putin would not allow now. Many people would take advantage of this. And it didn’t happen. On the evening of June 24, the denouement came: Lukashenka, and then the Kremlin, announced that there was an agreement – the PMCs would retreat to their Donbass camps, the fighters would receive forgiveness and be able to serve in the Ministry of Defense, and Prigozhin would move to Belarus.

As a result, after Putin’s first speech, some understatement remained for a long time. What will happen next?

First, it was not entirely clear what would happen to Wagner: according to Prigozhin, it had about 25,000 people, and according to some estimates, about 5,000 participated in the rebellion.

Secondly, the question hung in the air, whether immediate personnel conclusions at the highest level would be made after armed men in armored vehicles marched to the center of Russia.

Thirdly, immediately after the start of the rebellion, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee announced the opening of a criminal case under Art. 279 against Prigozhin himself. An intrigue arose: on the evening of the 24th, the Kremlin promised to close the case.

The ambiguity was gradually eliminated.

Late on the evening of June 26, the Kremlin announced the president’s speech on central TV. It was not just an appeal to the nation, but a 10-minute speech of gratitude for the fact that it did not flinch and showed consolidation in the face of the enemy (this time, one might say, internal, not external).

“A firm, unambiguous position in support of the constitutional order was taken by public organizations, religious denominations, leading political parties, in fact, the entire Russian society. Everyone was united and rallied by the main thing – responsibility for the fate of the Fatherland, ”Putin said.

According to him, measures to neutralize the emerging threat were taken immediately and the rebellion would have been suppressed, Putin said. And the organizers of the rebellion, “despite the loss of adequacy,” could not fail to understand this.

But they, “having betrayed their country, their people, betrayed those who were drawn into the crime”: “They lied to them, pushed them to death, under fire, to shoot at their own.”

Namely, as is well known, Kiev and their patrons are trying to achieve this, the president could not help reminding – so that Russia would drown in civil strife.

But they tried to use the Wagner fighters in the dark against their brothers in arms, with whom they fought together for the sake of the country and its future, Putin said. Basically, they are “also patriots of Russia”, and they proved their loyalty in battle.

Therefore, they can continue their service by entering into a contract with the Ministry of Defense or other law enforcement agencies, or by returning to their relatives and friends. Anyone who wants to can go to Belarus, the president said: “The promise I made will be fulfilled.” That is, the Wagnerites were actually pardoned, taking into account the fact that their units would be disbanded.

But the Kremlin continued to keep in suspense. Because immediately after this – the second – appeal, he announced a meeting between Putin and the security forces (the permanent members of the Security Council who hold “civilian” positions were not present there, except for the head of the presidential administration, Anton Vaino).

Already almost at midnight, Putin again thanked the audience for the work of the audience (and there were Igor Krasnov, Nikolai Patrushev, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Sergei Shoigu, Alexander Bortnikov, Viktor Zolotov, Dmitry Kochnev, Alexander Bastrykin). He suggested talking about new tasks: and since there will be new tasks, it’s too early to talk about high-level personnel decisions now, Vedomosti sources believe. Besides, it’s not the president’s style. Although checks of all the circumstances of the incident are underway.

At the same time, the director of the Russian Guard, Zolotov, said that he would receive heavy weapons, including long-range ones, and tanks, which would definitely strengthen it and, probably, make it possible to turn the department into an alternative center of military power in the direction where Prigozhin’s PMC worked (see the material on page .2). And for former “Wagnerites” who do not want to conclude contracts with the Ministry of Defense, the Russian Guard may be a suitable place of service.

Other questions were answered a little later.

First, the Kremlin announced (which again intrigued) that Putin near the Kremlin would speak to the units of the Ministry of Defense, the National Guard, the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSO, which ensured order and law during the rebellion. Although the site where the ceremony took place (Cathedral Square in the Kremlin) was used for ceremonial events – for example, the parade of the presidential regiment in honor of Putin’s inauguration, there was something new in the current event. Not exactly ceremonial – perhaps because it is not so theatrical.

And it was again an event in which Putin thanked. The crowd (and their colleagues) “stand in the way of confusion, the result of which would inevitably be chaos,” he explained in a short speech. “They saved the Motherland from upheavals, actually stopped the civil war,” the president said.

Thanks to the well-coordinated work of the units of the Ministry of Defense, the Russian Guard, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the special services did not have to remove combat units from the military special operation zone. “Our comrades-in-arms, the pilots, died in the confrontation with the rebels,” Putin recalled, declaring a minute of silence (he remembered the victims the day before). “They did not flinch and honorably fulfilled the order and their military duty.”

He later said that everything would be done to support the families of the victims.

But in general, the rapid and clear deployment of law enforcement agencies made it possible to stop “an extremely dangerous development of the situation in the country, to prevent civilian casualties,” the president noted. Then he again thanked the personnel of the Armed Forces, law enforcement agencies and special services.

He also thanked the fighters at a meeting with the military personnel of the Ministry of Defense, a couple of hours later.

“A special role in this [подавлении мятежа], of course, you played – you and your comrades. And for that, special thanks to you. I want us all to understand what happened and what would have happened if you hadn’t done what you did and hadn’t fulfilled your military duty, and hadn’t shown loyalty to the oath and to the Russian, Russian people, ”the president said. .

He remembered again that after riots there is chaos and civil war. “That’s what you prevented. That was your role,” Putin praised the military. Although everyone had to work in difficult conditions to avoid civilian casualties.

And having already explained before that the Wagner fighters have the opportunity to continue serving or engage in a peaceful life in Belarus, Putin put an end to the image of this formation. “The content of the entire Wagner group was fully provided by the state – from the Ministry of Defense, from the state budget we fully funded this group,” he said (and this explains why Prigozhin’s actions became a “stab in the back”).

Putin operated with exact figures. In particular, only from May 2022 to May 2023, the state paid PMCs 86.262 billion rubles for cash maintenance and incentive payments. Of these, financial support – 70.384 billion rubles, incentive payments – 15.877 billion rubles. Insurance payments – 110.179 billion rubles.

But despite the subsidies, the president emphasized, Concorde, Prigozhin’s company, earned 80 billion rubles from the supply of food and food services to the army. Since the maintenance was completely taken over by the state, the company earned 80 billion rubles, Putin said. (There is a version that the refusal of the military department from part of the contracts prompted a conflict with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense.)

“I hope that in the course of these works no one stole anything or, let’s say, stole less, but, of course, we will, of course, deal with this with everything,” he said.

The criminal case against Prigozhin himself under Art. 279 of the Criminal Code on the armed rebellion on June 27 was terminated. The initiation of other cases (including against the “Wagnerites”) has not yet been reported.

But if Putin’s hopes for the honesty of businessman Prigozhin are not justified, then this will be a completely different matter, probably again a criminal one.