Russian President Putin enjoying 'astounding' support following Wagner's mutiny

Support for Russian President Vladimir Putin reached “astounding” levels ever since he quelled the Wagner group’s mutiny against the defence ministry.

The Kremlin has reiterated that the armed rebellion led by Wagner Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin last week has not been able to weaken Putin’s age-old rule.

Moscow late on Wednesday released footage of President Putin walking up to a cheering group of mostly women in Derbent, an ancient city in the Dagestan region of southern Russia.

However, the Russian president is not known for interacting with common Russians, especially since the Covid pandemic, which saw him observe strict isolation rules, with some of those restrictions still in place.

“In Derbent, there was an astounding demonstration of support and happiness of the local population,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.

He said President Putin “could not refuse” greeting the crowd.

“The data we have show the prevailing and dominating support of the president and the special military operation,” Peskov said Thursday using Moscow’s official term for the conflict in Ukraine.

In the video, Putin can be seen surrounded by men in suits and a cameraman while he reached out to shake people’s hands.

Then, with his jacket off, he waved goodbye and blew a kiss to the crowd, before getting in a car.

He initially condemned the rebelling Wagner fighters as traitors and vowed tough punishment but after the mutiny was halted, President Putin allowed the fighters to go back to their homes, join the regular army or go into exile in Belarus.

With inputs from AFP

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