Destabilizing Russia, starting civil war has failed: Intel chief

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
24 Jun 2023 18:25
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This comes after PMC Wagner chief called for an armed mutiny in Rostov region southwest of Russia and allegedly took control of the city Saturday morning.

Sergei Naryshkin, head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, on February 21, 2020 (AP)

The head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, stated on Saturday that the attempt to destabilize Russian society and spark a fratricidal civil war was a clear failure, TASS reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed in a live speech on Saturday that all parties responsible for the attempted armed mutiny in Rostov will face the rule of law and will have to answer to the people of Russia.

His address came after PMC Wagner, under the group's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, staged a military mutiny in Rostov region southwest of Russia and allegedly took control of the city Saturday morning.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) launched a criminal case for armed mutiny statements made on behalf of Prigozhin, as he had called on the group's supporters inside Russia to join his movement and rebel against Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, as well as the Chief of Staff and commander of the military operations in Ukraine, General Valery Gerasimov.

Prigozhin conditioned that he would only withdraw from Rostov if Shoigu resigned.

According to Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Chechen Republic, Prigozhin's mutiny is a "hideous betrayal" and needs to be put down in order to preserve Russian unity during the conflict in Ukraine.

The Chechen leader harshly criticized the leader of the private military firm in a Telegram post on Saturday, calling his actions "a knife in the back" and "a real military mutiny."