Putin expresses confidence on Ukraine in interview recorded before revolt By Reuters

© Reuters. Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a video address on the occasion of Youth Day in Moscow, Russia, in this picture released June 24, 2023. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via REUTERS

(Reuters) – Russian state television on Sunday showed Russian President Vladimir Putin expressing confidence in plans for Ukraine in an interview that appeared to have been recorded before Saturday’s aborted revolt by the Wagner group of mercenaries.

“We feel confident, and, of course, we are in a position to implement all the plans and tasks ahead of us,” Putin said. “This also applies to the country’s defence, it applies to the special military operation, it applies to the economy as a whole and its individual areas.”

The comments in an interview with Kremlin correspondent Pavel Zarubin were broadcast by Rossiya state television. Zarubin said the interview was done after a meeting with military graduates, in an apparent reference to an event held on Wednesday.

The full interview was due to be broadcast later on Sunday.

The short report did not mention Saturday’s revolt, in which Wagner mercenaries took a southern city before heading toward Moscow. In a televised address before the drama was defused and the group stopped their advance, Putin said the rebellion put Russia’s very existence under threat.

In its daily briefing on Sunday the Defence Ministry also did not mention anything about the actions of Wagner and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Asked in the interview how much time he dedicates to what Russia calls its special military operation, Putin said: “Of course, this is paramount, every day starts and ends with this.”