Russian President Vladimir Putin paid tribute to pilots killed in an unsuccessful revolt over the weekend, acknowledging for the first time that Wagner mercenaries had marched on Moscow.
Putin’s Monday broadcast statement revealed Wagner troops had downed Russian aircraft in Saturday’s violent insurrection led by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Putin said, “The courage and self-sacrifice of the fallen heroes-pilots saved Russia from tragic, devastating consequences,” adding that the uprising threatened Russia’s survival and those responsible would be punished.
No official data exists on pilot deaths or planes downed.
On Saturday, Russian Telegram groups tracking military action, notably the blog Rybar with over a million members, stated that 13 Russian pilots were killed during the day-long mutiny.
Rybar reported three Mi-8 MTPR electronic warfare helicopters and an Il-18 with its crew downed.
The reports were unverified by Reuters. It was unclear how the airplane and crew were shot down.
Putin stated, “steps were taken on my direct instruction to avoid serious bloodshed” during the insurrection, which ended abruptly with Wagner forces withdrawing and Prigozhin agreeing to exile in Belarus.
“Time was needed, among other things, to give those who had made a mistake a chance to come to their senses, to realise that their actions were firmly rejected by society, and that the adventure in which they had been involved had tragic and destructive consequences for Russia and our state,” Putin said.
Wagner leader Prigozhin posted an 11-minute audio statement on his press service’s Telegram channel, but he didn’t reveal his whereabouts or the accord that stopped the drive toward Moscow.
He immediately ended the rebellion after his soldiers had to shoot down helicopters that targeted them as they traveled over 800km (500 miles) from the south to the capital.
Western officials regarded the unrest as showing Putin’s fragility after his 16-month invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian president said he would keep his weekend promise to let Wagner forces move to Belarus, sign a contract with the Defence Ministry, or return home.
Putin congratulated Wagner fighters and commanders who stopped “fratricidal bloodshed” and claimed most Wagner members were patriots.
No Prigozhin mention. On Monday night, a Kremlin spokesperson told IFX that Putin met with Russian security chiefs, including Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
By Monday evening, Prigozhin had demanded that Shoigu and Russia’s top general be fired.
This month, longtime Putin loyalist and ex-convict Prigozhin, 62, resisted instructions to transfer his troops under Defence Ministry supervision.
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