MOSCOW, June 24. /TASS/: An attempt to stir up Russian society and foment a civil war has failed, said Sergey Naryshkin, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service and Chairman of the Russian Historical Society.
"As of now, it is clear that an attempt to stir up society, awaken its darkest impulses and foment a fratricidal civil war has failed," he said in a statement posted on the Russian Historical Society’s Telegram channel.
"The Russian people demonstrated their civic maturity and ability to distinguish the truth from lies," he added.
Naryshkin also noted that "the attempt at armed mutiny and betrayal, made behind the back of the fighting army, is the most terrible crime that no past achievements can justify."
According to the statement, the Russian Historical Society urges the Russian people "to rally around President Vladimir Putin - the guarantor of the Constitution and citizens’ rights and freedoms - and support our army, which, in spite of everything, continues to hold back the enemy."
"Our country continues its self-sacrificing struggle for its future and our national sovereignty, repelling a never-before-seen act of aggression by Western liberal totalitarian regimes," the statement said.
On June 23, several audio recordings were posted on the Telegram channel of Wagner private military company founder Yevgeny Prigozhin. He particularly claimed that his forces had come under attack, which he blamed on the country’s military authorities. In this regard, the Federal Security Service (FSB) launched a criminal investigation into calls for armed mutiny. The Russian Defense Ministry slammed allegations of a strike on the Wagner PMC’s "rear camps" as fake news. The FSB warned Wagner fighters against following Prigozhin’s orders and called on them to take action to detain him. Russian President Vladimir Putin in a televised address to the nation on Saturday described the Wagner group’s actions as armed mutiny and betrayal, vowing to take tough measures against the mutineers.
