A visibly angry Vladimir V. Putin on Monday denounced as “blackmail” a weekend rebellion by the Wagner mercenary group even as he defended his response to the mutiny and hinted at leniency for those who took part, saying that “the entire Russian society united” around his government.
Speaking publicly for the first time in two days, Mr. Putin, in an address broadcast on Monday night, refused to utter the name of the Wagner boss behind the insurrection, Yevgeny V. Prighozhin.
But his contempt was clear for those who had seemed, briefly, to threaten civil war and upend Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces are mounting a counteroffensive.
“They wanted Russians to fight each other,” said Mr. Putin, Russia’s president.
Instead, at the core of his five-minute speech on Monday was his insistence that he leads a nation and a government that present a united front to all threats.
Persons:
Vladimir V, Putin, ”, Wagner, Yevgeny V, “, Mr
Organizations:
Kremlin
Locations:
Russian, Ukraine