PM Mishustin Urges Russian People To Unite Behind President Putin After Wagner's Insurgency

JAKARTA - Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Monday Russia had faced the challenge of stability and had to remain united behind President Vladimir Putin, following the insurgency of the Wagner Group's mercenaries group on Saturday.

Under a deal on Saturday night that defused the crisis and avoided possible bloodshed, the Kremlin said Wagner's mercenaries would return to headquarters.

Meanwhile, the leader of the group Yevgeny Prigozhin will move to Belarus. All criminal charges against him and his fighters will be dropped, the Kremlin said.

In the first public comments of senior officials against the incident, PM Mishustin appealed to national unity to deal with what he said was a Western effort to weaken Russia.

"The main thing in a condition like this is to ensure the sovereignty and independence of our country, the security and welfare of citizens," said PM Mishustin.

"Therefore, the consolidation of the entire community is very important, we need to act together, as a team, and maintain the unity of all forces, unite around the president," he said.

On the occasion, PM Mishustin, Russia's former head of federal tax service, also satirized the West.

"As the president said, almost all military, economic and Western information machines are directed against us," he said.

Earlier, President Putin said on Saturday the uprising carried out by Wagner mercenaries had threatened Russia's existence and vowed to crush it.

However, since then, he has not publicly commented on the incident or the deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to defuse the crisis.