Russian reactions

Vladimir Putin. AP  

Russian reactions 

Putin ignores the uprising in his first comment  

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin chose not to mention this weekend's attempted uprising at all in his first statement since the incident, writes Sky News. In a video message posted on the Kremlin's website on Monday, Putin instead talks about an industry forum. 

 

It is not clear when the statement was recorded.  

 

According to the Russian state news agency Interfax, Putin is said to have also spoken by phone with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who is said to have expressed his full support.  

 

 

Yevgeny Prigozhin AP  

 

Russian invasionWagner rebellion  

Prigozhin's first words: The goal was to save Wagner - not to overthrow Russia's leadership  

 

The attempted revolt of the paramilitary Wagner group this weekend shows serious security deficiencies in Russia. This is what the group's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin says in a first statement, Reuters and AFP report. 

 

In the eleven-minute long statement, Prigozhin says that none of his soldiers agreed to sign contracts with the Russian army, which Russia demanded. He says the group was attacked by Russian helicopters without showing aggression and that became the trigger for the march towards Moscow. He regrets that the Wagner soldiers had to fire back. 

 

- The goal of the march was to prevent the Wagner group from being destroyed. We did not march to overthrow Russia's leadership, he says further. He also says that the intention was to hold accountable those who committed mistakes during the war in Ukraine. 

 

The rebellion was called off after Prigozhin and the Kremlin made a deal that the criminal investigation against Prigozhin would be dropped in exchange for him going to Belarus.  

 

 

Wagner soldiers in Mali. AP  

 

Lavrov: Wagner's efforts in Africa will continue  

 

The Wagner Group paramilitary will continue its operations in Mali and the Central African Republic, despite this weekend's aborted uprising in Russia. That is according to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, according to AFP.  

 

According to Lavrov, the Wagner soldiers in the country act as "instructors". He also says that the weekend uprising will not affect Russia's relations with "friends and partners".  

 

According to Reuters, Lavrov also says that he received "signals" from the American ambassador in Russia that the United States was not involved in the coup attempt.