Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the leaders of last weekend's Wagner mutiny of wanting "to see Russia choked in bloody strife".

In a short speech full of vitriol, Mr Putin vowed to bring the organisers of the revolt "to justice".

But he called regular Wagner troops "patriots" who would be allowed to join the army, go to Belarus or return home.

He did not directly name Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who earlier denied trying to overthrow Mr Putin's regime.

Wagner is a private army of mercenaries that has been fighting alongside the regular Russian army in Ukraine.

The short-lived rebellion, which saw Wagner fighters seize a major Russian city before heading north towards Moscow in a column of military vehicles, was a response to government plans to take direct control of Wagner, Prigozhin claimed in an 11-minute long audio statement published on Telegram on Monday.

 

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Was there ever any doubt Putin would try and kill him?wonder if he might try a Stalin move and kill all the Wagners oh wait he won’t do that that’s the group who rob poor countrys for him

20 hours ago, Tug said:

Was there ever any doubt Putin would try and kill him?wonder if he might try a Stalin move and kill all the Wagners oh wait he won’t do that that’s the group who rob poor countrys for him

Right. How weird was it when news reports said his convoy turned around, and that Putin would not punish him or press charges against his soldiers. Interested to see how this episode plays out.