Putin pays tribute to slain Russian pilots

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid tribute to pilots slain fighting an unsuccessful mutiny and commended the nation for its patriotic unity.

These Russian pilots died opposing the Wagner militia group’s march on Moscow.

Putin’s televised statement on Monday was his first public response since Saturday’s armed insurrection led by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

He thanked the Russian people, servicemen, law enforcement and security services for remaining united to protect “the Fatherland”.

According to him, it showed Russia would not succumb to “any blackmail, any attempt to create internal turmoil”.

He said Russia’s enemies wanted to see the country “choke in bloody civil strife”, before singling out the actions of the pilots.

“The courage and self-sacrifice of the fallen heroes-pilots saved Russia from tragic devastating consequences,” Putin said, adding that the rebellion threatened Russia’s very existence and those behind it would be punished.

There has been no official information about how many pilots died or how many aircraft were shot down.

Some Russian Telegram channels monitoring Russia’s military activity, including the blog Rybar with more than a million subscribers, reported on Saturday that 13 Russian pilots were killed during the day-long mutiny.

Among the aircraft downed were three Mi-8 MTPR electronic warfare helicopters, and an Il-18 aircraft with its crew, Rybar reported.

Reuters