Russian Military Bloggers Question Putin's Mutiny Response

Influential Russian military bloggers have questioned Moscow's response to the Wagner mutiny, with some praising President Vladimir Putin's sangfroid and others saying they expected a tougher response.

In an extraordinary series of events last week, Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner group, which had for months lead an assault in eastern Ukraine, mutinied and threatened to attack Moscow, before reversing course.

War correspondent Alexander Sladkov, who has over a million followers on messaging app Telegram, said he had expected a furious response from Putin.

"Everyone thought the world will spin five times faster," he wrote. "Nuclear weapons? General mobilisation? Declaration of war with NATO?"

Sladkov said it took him a day to look back and conclude: "Thankfully, he is cool-headed. Hugely provoked, but in control."

But some saw the extraordinary march and the Kremlin's promise not to punish the rebels as a sign of a weakness.

"Where is the leadership of the defense ministry when an armed unit is approaching Moscow?" wrote military correspondent Yuri Kotenok. He however did not attack Putin personally.

The revolt was halted after a deal brokered by Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko.

Putin condemned the mutineers as "traitors" and warned against the danger of civil war, before saying they could return to their homes, join the army or go into exile in Belarus.

Since the mutiny, Putin has addressed the nation several times in an apparent attempt to show he was in control.

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On Tuesday, he told troops at the Kremlin that they had averted "civil war."

- Kremlin ceremony mocked -

But the ceremony, which saw Putin standing on a red carpet and thanking the troops for averting the rebellion, was mocked online.

Wagner fighters were able to capture several military sites, including a key military headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, before continuing their march on Moscow.

"Officers of the headquarters of the southern military district, who abandoned the headquarters in seconds and shat themselves at the mere sight of the Wagnerites, yesterday put themselves forward for state awards," said the Battle_Z_Sailor Telegram channel, which has 63,000 followers.

The channel accused military police and special forces guarding the headquarters of disappearing during the mutiny, "leaving the conscripts at the gate."

Another popular Telegram channel, Govorit TopaZ, which has nearly 100,000 followers, also took issue with the ceremony.

"In the Kremlin now they are literally rewarding and praising people who had nothing to do with the bloodless solution of the conflict," it said.

The channel criticised the authorities for "not saying a single word about what led to the mutiny."