‘Any blackmail is doomed to failure,’ defiant Putin warns after attempted rebellion

Published

2 years ago

June 26, 2023

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Vladimir Putin has warned “any blackmail is doomed to failure” – days after an attempted rebellion led by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The Russian president – speaking to the nation from the Kremlin on Monday night – condemned the “criminal acts” orchestrated by Prigozhin’s troops.

But Putin insisted that any armed rebellion would have been suppressed – and steps were immediately taken to “neutralise the threat that had arisen.

Reaction to Putin’s statement – live updates

Putin thanked the Russian public for its “support, patriotism and solidarity” – and said there had been a coming together that had “saved” the country.

“Virtually the entirety of Russian society, all of them, have been united in the face of the responsibility to defend the homeland,” Putin claimed.

He expressed gratitude to Belarus’s president Alexander Lukashenko for helping to bring the crisis to a “peaceful resolution”.

The Russian leader said that most Wagner mercenaries were “patriots” – and claimed they had been encouraged by organisers of the plot “to fight against their compatriots”.

He added: “By turning back [from their march on Moscow], they avoided further bloodshed. We have to think about the people who actually decided to take this step, which would have had tragic and devastating consequences for Russia as a whole.

“I would like to thank those commanders and soldiers of the Wagner private company who took the right decision to stop and go back, and prevent bloodshed.”

‘Revenge for failure’

He further claimed that “neo-Nazis in Kyiv and the West” had wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other and divide its society.

During the short, five-minute address, Putin claimed Ukraine had been involved in the weekend’s events and called the revolt “revenge for their failure at the front – but they slipped up, they made a mistake”.

Towards the end of his speech, Putin directly addressed the mercenaries and said they were now faced with a choice – either to continue serving the Russian military by entering into a contract with the ministry of defence, or they could return home to their families.

He said: “It is the choice of each of you, a choice of the warriors of Russia who have acknowledged their fault.”

Putin said lots – and nothing at all

A late-night address from Vladimir Putin offering Wagner fighters a choice: sign a contract with the ministry of defence, go back home, or go to Belarus.

The president did not name Yevgeny Prigozhin – he tends not to name men he considers his enemy – but he did say that his armed rebellion was exactly what Russia’s enemies, Kyiv and the West, wanted: fratricide, Russians spilling Russian blood. A criminal act overcome only by the consolidation of society, he said.

Not that the Russian public had had much to do with any of this. Prigozhin had pulled his men back, after what appears to have been a good deal of mediation by a number of intermediaries, not just Alexander Lukashenko.

Putin fears a fractured society and he wants to emphasise that attempts to divide the nation will get nowhere. But Saturday showed there are significant cracks – however Putin papers over them.

The nation expected Putin to give them a sense of direction. This was a strange halfway house, saying lots and nothing at all.

Prigozhin’s ultimate fate is still unclear, but Alexander Lukashenko is due to give a speech on Tuesday. Perhaps we will find out more then.

Prigozhin said earlier on Monday that he ordered his fighters to halt their advance on Moscow because he “did not want to shed Russian blood” and never intended to overthrow the government.

He also said Lukashenko in Belarus had “extended his hand and offered to find solutions for the further operation of Wagner in a legitimate jurisdiction”.

But Prigozhin did not offer any details about where he was, or what his future plans are.

It comes after the Kremlin said it had made a deal for the Wagner leader to move to Belarus and receive amnesty, along with his troops.

Meanwhile, a top White House official has denied that the US had any involvement in Saturday’s rebellion – and said it had “good, direct communication with the Russians over the weekend”.

US President Joe Biden also said earlier that it was important leaders gave Putin “no excuse” to blame the mutiny on the West or NATO.

“We made it clear we were not involved,” the president said. “We had nothing to do with it.

“This was part of a struggle within the Russian system.”

World

Buddhist monk sex scandal grips Thailand as woman arrested

Published

5 hours ago

July 17, 2025

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Buddhist monk sex scandal grips Thailand as woman arrested

A sex scandal has rocked Thailand’s Buddhist clergy after a woman allegedly enticed a string of monks into having sex with her and then blackmailed them.

At least nine abbots and senior monks have been disrobed and cast out of the monkhood, the Royal Thai Police Central Investigation Bureau said.

Wilawan Emsawat, in her mid-30s, is accused of enticing senior monks into having sex with her and then pressuring them into making large payments to cover it up.

Thai monks are largely members of the Theravada sect, which requires them to be celibate and refrain from even touching a woman.

Several monks transferred large amounts of money after Wilawan initiated romantic relationships with them, police said -her bank accounts received around 385 million baht (£8.8m) in the past three years, with most of that spent on gambling websites.

Wilawan was arrested at her home in Nonthaburi province, north of the capital Bangkok, on charges including extortion, money laundering and receiving stolen goods.

Thai media reported a search of her mobile phones revealed tens of thousands of photos and videos, as well as numerous chat logs indicating intimacy with several monks, many of which could be used for blackmail.

An investigation was launched last month after an abbot of a famous temple in Bangkok abruptly left the monkhood.

He had allegedly been blackmailed by Wilawan over their romantic relationship, investigators found.

She told the monk she was pregnant and asked him to pay her 7.2 million baht (£165,000), Jaroonkiat Pankaew, a Central Investigation Bureau deputy commissioner, said at a news conference in Bangkok on Tuesday.

Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai ordered authorities to review and consider tightening existing laws related to monks and temples, especially the transparency of temple finances, to restore faith in Buddhism, government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub said on Tuesday.

The Central Investigation Bureau has set up a Facebook page for people to report monks who misbehave, Mr Jaroonkiat said.

“We will investigate monks across the country,” he said. “I believe that the ripple effects of this investigation will lead to a lot of changes.”

World

Tomorrowland: ‘Devastating’ blaze destroys main stage at major festival – two days before it was due to begin

Published

14 hours ago

July 17, 2025

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Tomorrowland: 'Devastating' blaze destroys main stage at major festival - two days before it was due to begin

A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.

Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.

Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.

The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.

It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.

Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.

The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.

The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.

Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.

Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.

“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”

Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.

World

Why Israel is getting involved in Syria’s internal fighting

Published

23 hours ago

July 16, 2025

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Why Israel is getting involved in Syria's internal fighting

Israel has shown little respect for international borders since becoming the unrivalled military hegemon of the Middle East. Today that meant an Israeli airstrike on a government building in Damascus.

Israel says its attack on a Syrian defence ministry facility was intended as a warning to the new government: stay out of the part of southern Syria we have occupied or else.

Israel has moved into parts of the south of the country, built military bases and declared a line of control.

On Monday, Syrian tanks heading south to try and restore order following an outbreak of factional fighting were attacked by Israeli warplanes.

“The presence of such vehicles in southern Syria could pose a threat to Israel,” stated the Israel Defence Forces.

In reality, Syria’s ageing tanks pose minimal threat to Israel’s state-of-the art military.

The Syrian armour was attacked as it entered the area around Sweida in the Druze heartland of southern Syria following factional fighting there.

The flare-up reportedly began with clashes between Bedouin and Druze groups that ended in scores killed.

The background to the escalation is complicated.

At least three Druze militia groups are divided in their loyalties to different religious leaders and differ over how they should respond to calls to assimilate into the new post-revolutionary Syria.

Israel is becoming more and more involved in Syria’s internecine war and says it will remain there indefinitely “to protect our communities and thwart any threat”.

Its critics say Israel is operating a policy of divide and rule in Syria, weakening the fledgling government and creating a buffer zone to protect the border with the Golan Heights – originally Syrian territory that it has occupied and annexed for almost half a century.

Since the fall of the Assad regime, Israel has used airstrikes to destroy of much of Syria’s military capability weakening its ability to impose control on outlying regions. This makes it more not less likely Israel will have a volatile unstable state on its northern border.

America and European powers have chosen to normalise relations with the new government in Damascus and lift sanctions.

In contrast Israel has occupied its territory, bombed its military and today hit one of its government buildings in the capital with an airstrike.

Since its crushing military campaigns against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, Israel has emerged as the unchallenged military power of the region.

There is however a limit to what blunt force can achieve alone. It requires diplomacy to achieve lasting gains and Israel’s repeated assaults on multiple neighbours combined with its relentless campaign in Gaza are winning it few friends in the region.