Defiant Vladimir Putin has vowed to punish the Wagner rebels as he broke cover for the first time since the failed coup.
The Russian President said in a statement the "organisers of this rebellion will be brought to justice" and that it was "criminal activity which is aimed at weakening the country".
In a blistering pre-recorded address to the world, the warmongering leader said that "any kind of blackmail is doomed to failure" and that the mutiny leaders "wanted our society to be fragmented".
He thanked the Russian public for its "support, patriotism and solidarity" since the rebellion, as well as thanking Belarus's Lukashenko for a peaceful resolution.
"Virtually the entirety of Russian society... was united by its responsibility to defend their homeland," Putin said.
He also thanked Wagner officials who "took the right decision to stop and go back to prevent bloodshed".
Putin added that most Wagner mercenaries are "patriots" who were "used" by organisers of the rebellion.
The uprising was "doomed to fail" and that "its organisers, even though they lost their sense of right and wrong, couldn't have failed to realise that," he continued.
Putin also claimed Ukraine was involved in the weekend's events and calls the revolt "revenge for their failed counteroffensive".
A feud between the Kremlin's top military brass and Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin culminated in the latter sending his mercenaries on a march towards Moscow over the weekend.
However, a civil war was avoided by a deal brokered between the factions.
Prigozhin had demanded the ousting of defence minister Sergei Shoigu, who he has frequently clashed with during the invasion of Ukraine.
The mercenaries were just 120 miles from Moscow before a deal brokered with the Kremlin halted the uprising.
Putin accused Prigozhin of being behind a "treason" before dropping charges after his former ally agreed to stand his troops down and move to Belarus.
The image of Putin's iron grip on Moscow has been dented by images of the private army leaving Ukraine to seize a military headquarters in a southern Russian city.
The short-lived rebellion did not noticeably affect Russian army posture along the 1,000 kilometer (600-mile) front line in eastern Ukraine, but it could give Ukraine the impetus it needs to intensify the beginning phase of its counteroffensive, which military leaders have admitted is going slower than expected.
Earlier today, another address was also broadcast on the Kremlin's social media channels in which the President gave no mention of the coup at all.
Bizarrely, he Instead congratulated members of an industrial forum.
