completely snubbed serving members of the Russian military in the country’s first state awards since the rebellion against the president’s rule, it has been claimed.
During a special ceremony at the Kremlin Palace, Putin said orders and medals would be awarded to those “who selflessly defended the constitutional order of on June 24”.
This was the same day as the Wagner Group mutiny which saw the mercenaries seize military facilities in Rostov-on-Don and march towards Moscow, before that was eventually abandoned at the eleventh hour.
Speaking of that day, Putin said “everyone in his post showed courage and did everything possible to fulfil his official and civic duty.”
He said the awards would also recognise participants in the “special military operation”, but it was telling that no recipients were serving members of the military, according to independent Russian-language news outlet , as per a report from .
The publication also reported “none were military pilots who died during the mutiny,” and that “so far, the Russian authorities have not presented state awards to the military for resisting the rebellion.”
There has also reportedly been a purge of the Russian army in the weeks following the Wagner mutiny while the whereabouts of Sergei Surovikin, the Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces, remains a mystery.
During the ceremony on Wednesday, Putin did not grant awards to commanders of the 123rd motorized rifle brigade and assault group, as per a transcript and video of the event on the Kremlin website.
But independent Russian-language news outlet Agentstvo highlighted that those presented with awards who were linked to the mutiny were only from Russia’s National Guard and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
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The ceremony saw two internal affairs officials receive bravery medals – one from the Lipetsk region with the other from the Voronezh region. These are the areas the Wagner columns passed through on June 24.
Two members of Russia’s National Guard received medals for courage.
National Guard Colonel Dmitry Makarov, who is the commander of the Rostov 685th separate mixed aviation regiment, was another recipient.
The ceremony took place at a time when the momentum of the war between Russia and Ukraine has swung back and forth as the number of attacks intensify.
At the start of the week, drones smashed into skyscrapers in Moscow’s business district, leaving Russia and Putin furious. Ukraine has not taken direct responsibility for these attacks.
But Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has gone on the front foot, warning Putin will die a defeated man and quickly shot down claims the war between Ukraine and Russia could last for 30 years.
The Ukrainian leader believes the war will never last that long because Vladimir Putin won’t be around to see it end.
He said: “It can’t, Putin won’t live that many years. He did not fight in Syria at the pace he is fighting us.
“That is why he will not stand 30 years. He will not exist, he will die. This, obviously, is absolute.”
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