The important speech is the first since the end of the Wagner mutiny over the weekend
The Kremlin and Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, Russia. © Sputnik / Maksim Blinov
An address to the nation on Monday evening by Russian President Vladimir Putin will be a turning point in the future of the country, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told the media.
“Without exaggeration, this address will determine the fate of Russia,” Peskov said.
Putin last spoke to the nation on Saturday, amid a mutiny by the private military company Wagner Group. He denounced the insurrection as a “stab in the back” of the nation, comparing it to the upheaval of 1917 and threatening those responsible with the most severe punishment. He did not name any names, however.
Shortly afterward, the Kremlin revealed that President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus had negotiated an end to the mutiny with Wagner head Evgeny Prigozhin. Lukashenko has also announced he would give an important speech on Monday evening.
