(Moscow) Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday “he had no doubts” of Russian support during Wagner’s armed rebellion last week, which sparked the country’s worst crisis since he came to power more than a decade ago. 20 years.
“I had no doubts about the reaction (of people) in Dagestan and throughout the country,” he said in an interview with the head of this republic in southern Russia, according to an excerpt released. by Russian state television.
Moments earlier, Sergei Melikov, the head of the republic of Dagestan, had assured the Russian leader that “there is not a single person in Dagestan who would not have supported the decisions of the leaders of the Russian Federation , which were adopted on June 24”, the day of the uprising.
The armed rebellion of Wagner, led at the end of last week by its leader Evguéni Prigojine, has strongly shaken Russian power, in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine where the Russian army is facing a counter-offensive by troops from Kyiv.
PHOTO YULIA MOROZOVA, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Wagner’s leader, Yevgeni Prigozhin
For several hours, the fighters of the paramilitary group notably occupied a Russian army headquarters in Rostov (southwest) and other military buildings, and marched several hundred kilometers towards Moscow, the capital, a coup of spectacular strength.
Yevgeny Prigojine has since assured that his uprising was not aimed at overthrowing Russian power, but at saving Wagner, nevertheless the blow to the image of the Russian president is significant.
In Rostov, an AFP reporter saw townspeople cheering and chanting “Wagner, Wagner!” at the start of the group’s fighters on Saturday evening, after their leader’s decision to turn around.