The president of Russia Vladimir Putin released a message to the Russian people to address the latest events with the Wagner group and Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rebellion.

The Russian president criticized Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin for his “criminal activity aimed at weakening the country” and added that Russian society has “consolidated” and “everyone’s patriotic feeling is what saved our country.”

Putin stressed that most of Wagner’s members are patriots, adding that he would keep his promise to the group’s members, who expressed their desire to move to Belarus.

He also argued that the mutiny would have been suppressed if it had reached Moscow, as from the beginning the Kremlin was prepared and took the “necessary decisions to neutralize the threat”.

“Almost the whole of Russian society has come together to defend its motherland,” he said.

The Russian president said the organizers of the attempted coup would be “brought to justice” calling their actions.

He also said that “the armed rebellion would have been suppressed anyway” and said that “any blackmail and attempt to organize an internal rebellion will end in defeat.”

He also thanked the Russian people for their “support, patriotism and solidarity”.

Vladimir Putin indicated that the group’s fighters had the option of signing a contract with the defense ministry and joining the Russian military or moving to Belarus, hinting that he would disband or reshape the organization. “The majority of Wagner commanders and fighters are patriots. They were secretly used against their brothers,” he stressed.

Putin then claimed that Ukraine and the West hoped the uprising would lead to civil war in Russia