MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin believes that the Russian society has shown its maturity in the face of an attempted rebellion on June 23-24 and Russian President Vladimir Putin has further strengthened his position both in the country and internationally.
"It is quite obvious that June 23-24 went down in the history of our country as the days of unity and consolidation of society around our President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. <...> Having passed this test, society showed its maturity. Putin emerged from this difficult situation having strengthened his positions both in the country and in the world," Volodin wrote in his Telegram channel.
He added that the president did everything to avoid bloodshed and misunderstanding. Furthermore, Volodin emphasized that the challenging situation demonstrated the president's power among both civil society and military troops.
He also emphasized that, despite the country's multi-party system and the ability to voice a wide range of opinions, there was not a single example of someone supporting the uprising.
On the evening of June 23, Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Telegram that his units had been attacked, putting the blame for that on the country’s military leadership. The Defense Ministry said the allegations were false. Wagner units that backed Prigozhin started marching on Rostov-on-Don, a city in southern Russia, and on Moscow. The Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, started a criminal investigation into a call for an armed mutiny.
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation, describing the PMC Wagner’s actions as treason.
Lukashenko, in coordination with Putin, then held talks with Prigozhin, following which PMC Wagner turned back its troops and moved them to their field camps. The Kremlin said that PMC Wagner fighters would not be prosecuted, given their combat merits. The investigation into the armed mutiny was dropped.