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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his forces from Ukraine after internal strife in Russia over the weekend.
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In extraordinary events, Russian private military company Wagner Group took control of the city of Rostov-on-Don and marched military convoys within 200 kilometres of Moscow.
The actions were taken in retribution against Russian military forces who allegedly fired on and restricted ammunition to Wagner Group soldiers in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a televised address calling the actions by Wagner as a “betrayal” and “treason”. Russian military forces also enacted armed checkpoints and demolition of roads on the southern areas of Moscow to stop the advance.
Prime Minister Albanese received several briefings over the weekend before addressing the matter directly on 26 June.
“There’s no doubt that he’s (Putin) been damaged because the image of a country all united behind Mr Putin is quite clearly not the case,” he said.
“I received three different briefings over the weekend as events move very quickly. It’s clear that not only has the illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine hurt, primarily, of course, the Ukrainian people with this attack on their democracy and their sovereignty. It’s also hurt Russia, who’s lost thousands of their troops and defence personnel.
“It’s clear that there is considerable dissent now within Russia. Now that’s tempered by the control that’s there in the media, but this will be a real shake up to the internal dynamics of Russia.
“The best thing that Mr Putin can do is to withdraw from this illegal invasion, respect international law, respect the sovereignty of Ukraine. And the world will continue to back Ukraine in its struggle.”
Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin backed down and ordered a halt to the march on the outskirts of Moscow after the televised address. He will reportedly have all charges dropped relating to the weekend’s actions and be relocated to Russian-allied Belarus, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Wagner Group troops who did not take part in the action will be offered Russian Defense Ministry contracts, while other Wagner troops will travel back to their field camps in Ukraine.
Prime Minister Albanese said it’s unlikely the international community has seen the last of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin as he travels to Belarus.
“You can’t have an event where you have this march on Moscow that was declared and then pretend that hasn’t happened,” Prime Minister Albanese said.
“This will create tension on an ongoing basis and we will continue to monitor events there in Russia but will also continue to provide support for President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine in this struggle.”
