A new video posted on social media shows the clearest footage yet of Russian aircraft opening fire on Wagner’s mercenary column during Saturday’s uprising, directly contradicting President Vladimir Putin’s claims.

New, clearer footage captured by a Russian driver’s dash cam shows the spectacular explosion that occurred after Russian army attack helicopters fired missiles at Wagner’s mercenary convoy as it traveled along the M4 in Voronezh region during Saturday’s events.

In a speech earlier in the day, after Prigozhin announced a mutiny against the military command in Moscow on Friday night, Vladimir Putin accused the mercenaries of stabbing Russia “in the back” and vowed to crush the armed uprising he compared with a Russian civilian. A century-old war.

In a televised speech, Putin accused Yevgeny Prigozhin of treason, assuring that he would defend the Russian people and the Motherland and that his response would be tough in the face of the ambitions of “endemic forces.”

“This internal turmoil is a blow to our people,” the head of the Kremlin emphasized.

Videos appearing on social media since Saturday captured Russian military strikes on Wagner’s mercenary positions, including from helicopters on the M4 motorway. A separate recording also shows Wagner’s mercenaries shooting down a command plane of the Russian regular forces.

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In a televised address to the nation Monday night, after Prigozhin delivered his own message, the Russian president said he had given the order to “avoid bloodshed” that he believed Ukraine and the West wanted in the failed uprising by Wagner’s paramilitary groups. group, while thanking the Russians for their “patriotism” and unity.

“From the very beginning of the events, on my direct instructions, measures were taken to avoid great bloodshed,” the Kremlin leader said in his speech, assessing that the West and Ukraine wanted “such a fratricidal result.”

The President of the Russian Federation also assured that the “vast majority” of the mercenaries of the “Wagner” PMC are Russian patriots.

“I thank those fighters and commanders of the “Wagner” PMC who made the only correct decision – they did not take the path of fratricidal bloodshed, they stopped at the last frontier,” Vladimir Putin said.

It also said that Wagner fighters would have “the option to continue their service in Russia under a contract with the Ministry of Defense or other law enforcement agencies, or to return to their family and friends,” and that they would also be free to travel to Belarus if they will want it.

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