Ukraine live briefing: Putin claims Russia would have crushed rebellion but Wagner fighters will be allowed to go to Belarus

Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the short-lived Wagner mutiny in a five-minute speech Monday, saying that he took steps to “avoid much bloodshed” as the convoy of Wagner mercenary fighters marched toward Moscow over the weekend in what’s been seen as an extraordinary challenge to his authority.

Without directly naming Wagner Group leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin in his speech, Putin said “the organizers of the rebellion” betrayed their country, their people and “those whom they lured into this crime. They lied to them, pushed them towards death, under fire, to shoot at their own people.”