West, Ukraine wanted Russians to ‘kill each other’ — Putin- TRT WORLD

Monday, June 26, 2023

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has said that the West and Ukraine wanted Russian soldiers to shoot at each other, two days after he warned against civil war.

“It was precisely this fratricide that Russia’s enemies wanted: both the neo-Nazis in Kiev and their Western patrons, and all sorts of national traitors. They wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other,” Putin said in a televised address to the nation.

Putin said he had ordered that bloodshed be avoided during a weekend armed rebellion and offered Wagner fighters to join the army or leave the country after their mutiny.

“From the start of the events, on my orders steps were taken to avoid large-scale bloodshed,” Putin said thanking Russians for their “endurance and unity, and patriotism”.

Putin accused rebelling Wagner fighters of treason and – without mentioning their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin by name – offered them to either sign contracts with the army or leave for neighbouring Belarus.

“Today you have the possibility to continue serving Russia by entering into a contract with the ministry of defence or other law enforcement agencies, or to return to your family and close ones… Whoever wants to can go to Belarus,” Putin said.