Putin to give address that will 'influence the fate of Russia' – Kremlin
The fateful speech is the first since the end of the Wagner mutiny over the weekend | The Monday evening address by Russian President Vladimir Putin will be a turning point in the future of the country, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media. “Without exaggeration, this address will determine the fate of Russia,” Peskov said. ● Putin last spoke to the nation on Saturday, amid a mutiny by the private military company ‘Wagner Group’. He denounced the insurrection as a “stab in the back” of the nation, comparing it to the upheaval of 1917 and threatening those responsible with the most severe punishment. He did not name any names, however. Shortly afterward, the Kremlin revealed that President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus had negotiated an end to the mutiny with Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin. Lukashenko has also announced he would give an important speech on Monday evening.
■ Address to citizens of Russia (President of Russia)(TEXT in English)
■ Putin thanks Russians for unity, vows to fulfill promise to Wagner fighters (TASS)
■ Обращение Президента Владимира Путина к гражданам России. Видео и полный текст (Rossiyskaya Gazeta)
■ Putin addresses Wagner ‘betrayal’ (RT.com)
■ Putin: Mutiny Organizers Wanted Russian Soldiers to Kill Each Other, Kiev Wanted the Same (Sputnik New)
■ President Putin Delivers Statement (Sputnik News)(FULL VIDEO)
■ Putin seals Wagner’s fate | Most members of the mutinous private military company are patriots, who were misled, the Russian leader said | Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered a choice to the soldiers of the Wagner private military company involved in Saturday's failed armed rebellion. They can either sign a contract with Russia’s Defense Ministry Ministry or other security agencies, return home or move to neighboring Belarus, the Russian leader said in a televised addressed. 💬 "The overwhelming majority of the fighters and commanders of the Wagner group are also Russian patriots, devoted to their people and country. They proved this with their courage on the battlefield,” Putin said in his address on Monday evening. The organizers of the insurrection “kept them in the dark and tried using them against their brothers in arms, with whom they fought shoulder to shoulder for the sake of the country and its future,” he said.