MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. Russian servicemen were able to prevent chaos and civil war that always follow armed mutinies, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"I want all of us to understand what has happened and what would have happened if you had not done what you did and fulfilled your military duty, showing your loyalty to your oath and to the Russian people. As always, armed mutinies are followed by chaos and civil war," the president said at a meeting with Russian servicemen.

He drew special attention to the servicemen’s efforts to avoid civilian casualties. "Unfortunately, you had to work in very difficult conditions in order to prevent civilian casualties, because you had to work on highways with heavy traffic," the head of state said.

He added that "the fact that we have casualties is even more regretful." "Of course, these are combat casualties, there is no other way to put it. Our comrades died defending the homeland. I say this without any exaggeration or pathos," Putin pointed out.

Speaking about the well-coordinated actions of the military that made it possible to thwart the mutiny, Putin said: "Chaos would have been inevitable, and of course the enemy would have taken advantage of it." According to the president, the enemy is "trying to do it anyway, but to no avail." "And I hope, or even I'm sure, that nothing will work. But what is known for sure is that they definitely would have taken advantage of it. We don't know what would have happened to the country in the end, but all the gains made during the fighting, which are numerous by the way, would have been lost. And you didn't let that happen," Putin concluded.