A rare absurd situation is happening in Russia: the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, as well as all the citizens of the country, who condemned the uprising of Wagner’s mercenaries on Saturday, are facing prison.

He reported on the situation on his page Twitter independent researcher Chris Owen, noting that in March the Russian parliament passed a bill that provides for criminal liability for discrediting “all participants” in the war in Ukraine, including volunteers.

The bill was essentially an extension of legislation passed in Russia since last year, when in March 2022 Moscow’s legislature banned the spread of “false information” and “discrediting” its armed forces, and then all Russian institutions operating abroad.

A new draft adopted by Moscow in March this year further expanded the scope of relevant legislation to provide “protection” to paramilitary groups such as Wagner’s mercenaries.

At the beginning of February, the head of the State Duma commission on security and anti-corruption, Vasyl Piskaryev, announced the preparation of a new draft law. Then he noted that Yevgeny Prigozhin personally appealed to the President of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin with a request to find a legislative solution to this “problem”.

The absurdity of the current situation after the uprising, which started on Friday night by mercenaries of the “Wagner” PMC, was also noted by deputy Vladyslav Davankov, vice-president of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament.

“If [normele acestei legi] remain unchanged, thousands of Russians could face up to 15 years in prison for their civil position regarding the actions of the leadership of a private military company after Saturday’s events. Would it be reasonable and fair? Of course not,” he wrote in his Telegram channel.

“A moratorium on prosecution under this article should be introduced at least for public opinion regarding the actions of the private military company and the armed forces outside the combat zone,” he added.

What did Vladimir Putin say about the rebellion of Prigozhin, who was nicknamed “the cook” until this weekend.

In a televised address on Saturday morning, the Kremlin leader accused Yevgeny Prigozhin of treason after the mercenary leader seized control of the military command in Rostov-on-Don last night, demanding a change of military command in Moscow. .

Vladimir Putin has declared that he will defend the Russian people and the Motherland, his response will be tough against the ambitions of “endemic forces”, which he accuses of “striking” Russia.

“This is treason. It’s like a knife in the back. Intrigues and everything else led to mass unrest, and the tragedy of this war made Russians victims,” ​​Putin said. “These internal troubles are a blow to our people,” he emphasized.

“Those who betrayed Russia, I appeal to everyone involved in this not to take part in any armed conflict,” he told Prigozhin’s men who were on their way to Moscow.

Obviously, it is unlikely that the Russian prosecutor’s office will now initiate a criminal case against someone for criticizing the actions of the Wagner PMC mercenaries, especially if it is directed against Vladimir Putin.

But the situation once again demonstrates the absurdity of Russia, which last year tried to ban even the word “war” after the start of the largest military conflict in Europe since the end of World War II.

The day before, the Russian parliament announced that it was working on a new law to “regulate” the status of the “Wagner Group” after Saturday’s events.

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