Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked the nation for its unity after the uprising was over. The day before the head of the mercenaries defended their rebellion. President Putin was also the first to thank the mercenaries for not shedding blood. He then added that all necessary measures were taken to protect the citizens. Putin has blamed his enemies for this.

Putin said in his statement that the rebels and Kiev also wanted the soldiers to kill each other. Most of the soldiers of Wagner's group are patriots of the motherland but they were to be used for evil deeds. But the solidarity of Russian citizens won. I am grateful to the President of Belarus Lukashenko for resolving the situation.

The day before, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said that we only wanted to prevent the destruction of Wagner, our private military company. We had no intention of staging a coup. We marched against injustice. Taking a jibe at the Russian army, he described his march as a master class. Prigozhin also mocked the Russian soldiers for failing to defend Russia. The chief said that the Russian army did not oppose us and we marched for 780 kilometers.

The Kremlin said that we had made a deal with Prigozhin. Under this he will return to Belarus and we will forgive him. Prigozhin's whereabouts were not available on Monday. Although a Russian media has claimed that he is staying in a hotel in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

Prigozhin, head of Russia's private army Wagner Group, issued a series of messages from late Friday night to Saturday. In it, Prigozhin claimed that he and his troops had entered the southern Russian city of Rostov and taken control of military positions. After this the private army threatened to march on Moscow, but then Prigozhin suddenly announced his withdrawal.