Russian military personnel and law enforcement agencies made efforts to protect people’s security at the time of an attempted armed riot and practically saved the country from civil war, President Vladimir Putin said today, as quoted by TASS.
“You protected the constitutional order, life, security and freedom of our citizens, you saved our homeland from turmoil, you actually stopped a civil war,” Putin said at a ceremony in the Kremlin to award servicemen and fighters who distinguished themselves in the course of events in Russia this year weekend.
Putin said this in his speech to officials from the units of the Ministry of Defense, the Federal Security Service, the Russian Guard, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Security Service, who maintained order during the riot and participated in its suppression.
Commenting on the chosen venue for the speech – Cathedral Square in the Kremlin – the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov explained that many soldiers were present at the ceremony, and the dimensions of the square allowed them to be placed comfortably. In total, more than 2,500 people attended the event.
The Russian president declared that the army and the people did not support the riot and did not mention Prigogine by name, the Associated Press points out. Russian troops have not been withdrawn from the front line in Ukraine to help deal with the insurgency, Putin stressed. He asked for a minute’s silence to honor the Russian military pilots who died during the commotion.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whose removal from office was wanted by the fighters from the Wagner mercenary group, also took part in the event on Cathedral Square in the Kremlin, Reuters notes.
State support for “Wagner” for almost a billion euros
The Russian state fully provided for the support of the “Wagner” mercenary group, the Russian president said today.
“I want to note and I want everyone to know about this: the support of the entire Wagner group was fully provided by the state. From the Ministry of Defense, from the state budget, we fully financed this group,” said the Russian president.
Putin pointed out that the company “Concord”, which owns “Wagner”, received 80 billion rubles from the state within a year for the supply of food products. “The maintenance [на групата Вагнер] was completely taken over by the state, and part of this whole group, this Concord company, at the same time earned 80 billion rubles,” he said.
According to him, in just one year, the Russian state has allocated to the company “Wagner” more than 86 billion rubles (about 922 million euros) for the maintenance of fighters and for incentive payments. “Of these, 70 billion and 384 million for remuneration, 15 billion and 877 million for incentive payments and [още] 110 billion and 179 million for insurance payments,” he specified.
Russian servicemen prevented the chaos and civil war that always and everywhere occur after armed rebellions, Putin also said. “I want all of us to understand what was happening and what would have happened if you hadn’t done what you did and you hadn’t fulfilled your military duty and you hadn’t shown your loyalty to your oath and to the Russian people. As always happens in such cases, the same thing always and everywhere happens: armed uprisings are followed by complete chaos and civil war,” the Russian president emphasized. “And that’s why, as commander-in-chief, I want to express my gratitude to you,” Putin concluded.
The riot was orchestrated by Western intelligence services
Meanwhile, the head of Rosgvardiya Viktor Zolotov told journalists that the fighters of “Wagner” moved so quickly because the main forces to repel their actions were concentrated near Moscow. He stressed that during the turmoil he was in constant contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the heads of federal executive bodies.
“Of course, the riot was prepared, instigated by the Western intelligence services, because they knew about it several weeks in advance,” Zolotov said. According to him, “information messages” were coming out “from Prigozhin’s camp” that a rebellion was being prepared and that it would take place between June 22 and 25. “All this shows that all this was also inspired by the West and it seems that Prigogine himself was encouraged to do it, or maybe his ambitions were too high, so to speak, he wanted to rise even higher high,” said the head of Rosgvardia.
Zolotov said any provocations that might have arisen amid the weekend riot would have been quelled. According to him, the fighters of “Wagner” could have reached Moscow, but not captured the city.
The head of Rosgvardia added that heavy weapons may soon appear in the ranks of his organization. “This issue is very relevant at the moment. We do not have tanks and other heavy weapons,” said Zolotov. He added that this issue would depend on funding and had already been discussed with Putin.
2023-06-27 15:33:57
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