Key points of Putin’s address to nation amid PMC Wagner coup attempt

Russian President Vladimir Putin has delivered an address to the nation amid a coup attempt by the private military company Wagner. He described the mutineers’ actions as “backstabbing” and called for unity.

Late on Friday, PMC Wagner boss Evgeny Prigozhin accused the Russian military of striking his group’s base – something the Defense Ministry has strongly denied.

Russian authorities, in turn, have launched a criminal investigation into Prigozhin over staging an armed insurrection.

Nature of the threat

In his address, Putin clearly labelled the PMC coup attempt as a “betrayal.” He cited “enormous ambitions and personal interests” of certain individuals as the reasons behind this “betrayal of their country and its people.” He went on to accuse those responsible, without naming Prigozhin in particular, of turning their back on the joint military cause in Ukraine and the memory of the fallen fighters.

If successful, the coup would lead to “anarchy and fratricide,” resulting, in the long run, in Russia’s “defeat” and “capitulation,” according to Putin.

The president characterized “any internal mutiny” as a death threat to the Russian state and nation. The president pledged to take “tough measures” against the mutineers, who have “willingly entered the path of betrayal” and prepared “armed insurrection.”

Those responsible will be brought to account before the Russian people, the president assured the public.