MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/. Plans to destabilize the situation in Russia failed in late June primarily thanks to Russian Armed Forces members’ commitment to their duty, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said.
"I cannot but touch upon another question, comprehensive answers to which have been provided by our supreme commander-in-chief. It concerns the attempt to destabilize the situation in Russia, which was made on June 23-25. These plans failed primarily because Russian Armed Forces personnel showed commitment to their oath and duty," the defense chief pointed out during a conference call with the senior staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
According to Shoigu, the provocation had no impact on the activities of Russia’s battlegroups and military servicemen continue to perform their missions with courage and dedication. "I would like to thank our military personnel for their faithful service," the defense minister concluded.
Mutiny attempt
On the evening of June 23, founder of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed on Telegram that his units had come under attack, for which he blamed Russia’s military authorities. The Russian Defense Ministry slammed this allegation as false. The PMC units that supported Prigozhin headed to Rostov-on-Don and toward Moscow. The Federal Security Service (FSB) launched a criminal probe into calls for armed mutiny. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address to the nation on June 24, described the Wagner group’s actions as betrayal. Later, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, in coordination with Putin, held talks with Prigozhin resulting in the PMC turning its units around and returning to field camps.
The Kremlin said that the authorities would not prosecute the Wagner fighters involved in the mutiny, given their services on the frontline. The criminal case was dismissed, the FSB said. Lukashenko noted later that he had suggested Prigozhin turn an abandoned Belarusian military base into a Wagner camp and also promised him full security.
According to Putin, the June 24 mutiny by the Wagner group threatened to turn into civil war but military servicemen and law enforcement officers managed to prevent its dangerous consequences. On June 29, Andrey Kartapolov, chairman of the Russian State Duma’s (the lower house of parliament) Defense Committee, noted that a few days before the mutiny attempt, Prigozhin had refused to sign a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry, and was notified that the PMC would no longer take part in the special military operation in Ukraine and its funding would be terminated.