Russian officials emphasise unity after aborted mutiny

MOSCOW - Senior Russian officials rallied around President Vladimir Putin on Monday, with questions still unanswered about a mutiny by mercenaries that appeared to pose the greatest threat on his grip on power in his 23-year rule. 

On the first working day after fighters of the powerful Wagner Group seized a military headquarters and marched on Moscow, officials still gave no details about the deal that

abruptly ended the mutiny.

 Mr Mikhail Mishustin, who leads Mr Putin’s Cabinet as his appointed prime minister, acknowledged that Russia had faced “a challenge to its stability”, and called for public loyalty. 

“We need to act together, as one team, and maintain the unity of all forces, rallying around the president,” he told a televised government meeting. 

There was no word about the revolt from Mr Putin himself, who had said on Saturday the rebellion put Russia’s very existence under threat and vowed to punish those behind it.

The Kremlin released a video of him congratulating participants of an industrial forum, with no indication of when it was filmed. 

In another move apparently intended to convey normality, the authorities released a video showing Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. The mutineers had demanded he be sacked, leading to speculation that his removal might have played a part in ending the revolt. 

There was still no sign of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the boss of Wagner and mutiny leader, last seen on Saturday smiling in an SUV as he left the southern city of Rostov-On-Don, captured by his men before he ordered them to stand down. 

Russia’s national Anti-Terrorism Committee said the situation in the country was stable, and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said he was cancelling the counter-terrorism posture adopted in the capital. 

Prigozhin and his fighters had been offered immunity from prosecution in return for withdrawal.

But state-controlled news agencies reported on Monday that the criminal case against Prigozhin remained open and was still being pursued.

Saturday’s extraordinary events left governments, both friendly and hostile to Russia, groping for answers to what happened behind the scenes and what could come next.

Russia’s ally China, where a senior Russian diplomat visited on Sunday, said it supported Moscow in maintaining national stability, while Ukraine and some of its Western allies said the turmoil revealed cracks in Russia. 

“The political system is showing fragilities, and the military power is cracking,” European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in Luxembourg, as he arrived for a meeting with ministers from across the 27-member bloc.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Mr Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which he calls a “special military operation” to counter a threat to Russia from there and the West, was destroying Russia and the West would continue to back Kyiv.

On Saturday, Wagner mercenaries fighting in Ukraine crossed into Russia, captured a headquarters for the war in Rostov, and drove most of the 1,100km to Moscow, meeting no resistance on the ground before abruptly halting their advance. Their commander, Prigozhin, had demanded that Defence Minister Shoigu and the army’s top general be handed over to him.

Video clips released by the defence ministry on Monday showed General Shoigu flying in a plane with a colleague and listening to reports at a command post. There was no evidence of when or where it had been filmed, and it had no sound. 

Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov has also not been seen in public since the events.

The Kremlin said the question of personnel changes was the sole prerogative of the president and would not have been part of any deal. 

In a televised address as events were unfolding on Saturday, Mr Putin drew parallels with the chaos of 1917 that led to the Bolshevik revolution. 

Nato said the events showed the scale of the Kremlin’s strategic mistake in waging war on Ukraine, and the Western defence alliance would not be intimidated into ending its support for Ukraine.

Monday has been declared a non-working day in Moscow to allow time for things to settle, and there was little evidence of increased security in the capital.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who spoke with G-7 and EU counterparts on Saturday, suggested the turmoil could take months to play out, saying more

cracks have emerged in the Russian facade.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed the events in Russia in separate phone calls with United States President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who expressed support.

“The world must put pressure on Russia until international order is restored,” Mr Zelensky said on Twitter.

State television said Mr Putin will attend a meeting of Russia’s Security Council this week, without elaborating, and Belarus’ Belta news agency said Mr Putin and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko spoke again on Sunday, after at least two calls on Saturday.

French President Emmanuel Macron told La Provence newspaper that the rebellion showed up divisions within the Russian camp and the fragility of both its army and Wagner.

A former Putin ally and former convict whose forces have fought the bloodiest battles of the 16-month war in Ukraine, Prigozhin, 62, this month defied orders to place his troops under Defence Ministry command. He launched the rebellion on Friday after alleging the military had killed some of his men in an air strike. The defence ministry denied this.

Ukraine says its forces have reclaimed some 130 sq km along the southern front line since the beginning of their counteroffensive earlier this month.

Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar told state television on Monday there had been little significant change in the past week, and Russia denied Ukrainian reports of small advances around the battleground city of Bakhmut.

General Serhiy Nayev, commander of Ukraine’s Joint Forces, responded to speculative reports that Wagner fighters could be moved to Belarus to attack Ukraine from the north.

“If this happens and the enemy tries to cross the state border, it will be nothing but suicide for them,” he said in a post on the military’s Telegram account. REUTERS