Vladimir Putin addresses the nation again, issuing another condemnation of the Wagner insurrection and confirming his Belarus-exile offer

For the second time in two days, Vladimir Putin made an emergency national address, denouncing the armed rebellion staged by members of the Wagner mercenary group. Without mentioning the aborted rebellion’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Putin said the insurrection’s leaders “betrayed their country, their people, and those who were drawn into the crime. They lied to them and drove them to death under gunfire to shoot at their own.”

The president also confirmed previous reports from the Kremlin that Wagner Group members can now “leave for Belarus.” “The promise I made will be honored,” he explained. “I repeat that you each have a choice, but I am sure that it will be the choice of Russian soldiers who have realized their tragic mistake.”

Before the speech, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov billed Putin’s address as “statements that, without exaggeration, will determine Russia’s fate.” The speech lasted five minutes and 11 seconds.