The opening line of the Kremlin’s flagship weekly information program on Sunday evening made the official place clear concerning the 24-hour mutiny staged by Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the mercenary chief who despatched his troops marching on Moscow solely to drag them again on the final second.
“Armed mutiny in Russia just isn’t supported by the society,” stated Dmitry Kiselyov, the anchor and senior Kremlin propagandist whose program — Vesti Nedelu or “Information of the Week” — units the tone for the federal government monopoly on broadcast information. “Treason within the time of battle is a grave crime.”
The newscast then confirmed in full Mr. Putin’s vehement, 5-minute speech from Saturday morning, wherein he accused Mr. Prigozhin, with out mentioning his title, of stabbing Russia within the again.
Inside hours of that tackle, the vows that Mr. Prigozhin would face legal prosecution for his actions had evaporated. All information shops carried the assertion from Dmitri S. Peskov, the presidential spokesman, who broke the dramatic pressure by asserting a behind-the-scenes deal credited to President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of neighboring Belarus. In trade for standing down, Mr. Prigozhin was granted secure passage in another country and his troops had been forgiven.
Mr. Kiselyov’s prolonged report on Sunday evening advised that Mr. Prigozhin had discovered little well-liked assist for his rebellion and resorted to flowery language to explain its about-face: “The armored column ran out of petrol and the sensation that the pinnacle of mutineers, Prigozhin, was about to evaporate into bloody steam, strengthened.”
In brief, this system concluded that Mr. Prigozhin was a traitor whose act of defiance meant little or no within the face of Russian unity.
NTV, one other state-run channel, echoed the identical theme on its weekly roundup, calling the rebellion a betrayal. It hinted on the involvement of overseas powers — the Kremlin’s default boogeyman — by referring to reviews that American intelligence was conscious of the brewing riot however didn’t communicate out.
Whereas state tv is the principle supply of stories for the older era, youthful Russians depend on Telegram, a social media app, that was flooded with information and commentary — not all of it dependable.
An influential group of pro-war bloggers who’ve been supportive but crucial of the battle effort, discovered themselves in a bind. They had been caught between their admiration for Mr. Prigozhin and his mercenary military and their dismay over the injuries his riot had opened.
One blogger, Yuri Kotenok, questioned aloud on Telegram on Sunday the place the navy management had disappeared to throughout the disaster. The primary targets of Mr. Prigozhin’s ire — the protection minister, Sergei Okay. Shoigu, and the navy chief of workers, Vitaly V. Gerasimov — haven’t been seen or heard from because the riot started.
“On the day when this occurred, the place had been you?” he wrote. “Or are you able to solely shoot movies when there isn’t a risk to provide the president a present? Come to your senses, this isn’t a present. The nation has been at battle for a 12 months now.”
Whilst analysts outdoors Russia advised the temporary revolts had immeasurably broken the popularity of President Vladimir V. Putin as infallible and invincible, the Russian authorities media predictably forged the day as an general win for Moscow.
However just a few Russian voices advised that the issues revealed by the mutiny wanted to be addressed.
Moskovsky Komsomolets, a scrappy tabloid, featured the headline “Prigozhin Leaves, Issues Stay: Deep Political Penalties of a Failed Coup.” (Mr. Prigozhin maintained that he was not fomenting a coup, merely making an attempt to drive a change of the highest navy management.)
The tabloid advised that “the very best energy within the nation” had created the issue by permitting unlawful militias to flourish, weakening the state’s monopoly on violence.
Everybody had been puzzled by the impunity with which Mr. Prigozhin had been allowed to criticize the highest navy brass, the tabloid stated. (Unbiased analysts outdoors Russia famous that atypical protesters get prolonged jail phrases for comparable statements, however that went unmentioned within the state-run shops.)
“This created an environment of worry and uncertainty and trampled down the popularity of the authorities,” wrote Mikhail Rostovsky, a columnist, including that the mutiny confirmed to the world that Russia was susceptible.
“Yevgeny Prigozhin will go to Belarus, however the issues created by him (to be truthful: not solely by him) will stay,” the columnist stated, “Fixing them will probably be oh so tough.”
Alina Lobzina and Milana Mazaeva contributed reporting.
