A number of Tuesday’s papers report on the aftermath of the attempted mutiny by the Wagner Group in Russia over the weekend. The i leads with a televised address delivered on Monday night by a “defiant” President Vladimir Putin, quoting him as saying the mutineers “wanted our society to drown in blood” but urging Russians to forgive those who have fought in Ukraine.
The Times reports that Putin said Wagner’s fighters had been “lied to” by the organisers of the rebellion but did not mention Yevgeny Prigozhin, the group’s leader, by name. It says he added that the Kremlin would honour the terms of a deal, struck to halt the advance on Moscow, under which Prigozhin will move to Belarus.
President Putin said Ukraine and the West had “wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other, to kill military personnel and civilians, so that in the end Russia would lose, and our society would choke in bloody civil strife”, according to the Guardian. The paper adds that he appeared to suggest the Wagner Group would still be shut down, with its fighters given a choice between signing a contract with the ministry of defence and relocating to Belarus.
The Daily Telegraph leads with comments by Prigozhin, also delivered on Monday night, in which he said the march on Moscow had been a “masterclass” in how the invasion of Ukraine in February last year should have been conducted. Speaking for the first time since the revolt, Prigozhin said that, if the invasion had been launched by a unit “just as well-trained, with the same level of morale and preparedness” as his own, then “maybe the special military operation would have lasted 24 hours”.
Prigozhin also denied that his march on Moscow was an attempt to overthrow the government, and instead directed further criticism at Russia’s “unprofessional” military leadership, the Financial Times reports. The paper quotes US President Joe Biden saying that the rebellion was “part of a struggle within the Russian system” and Josep Borrell, the EU’s chief diplomat, saying it showed Putin’s “military power is cracking”.
The Daily Star offers some advice to Prigozhin if he wants to avoid the fates allegedly met by others who have crossed Putin or the KGB in the past. “Best stay away from open windows,” it says. “And watch what you eat and drink, too. And while you’re at it, avoid bumping into umbrellas as well.”
The father of Stephen Lawrence, the black teenager whose 1993 murder led to an inquiry into institutional racism in the Metropolitan Police, has berated the force after it emerged there was a sixth suspect in his son’s killing, the Daily Mail reports. It comes after a BBC investigation named Matthew White, who died in 2021, as a suspect alongside the five that were previously known and revealed evidence that could have placed him at the scene of the crime. Speaking to the Mail, Neville Lawrence describes it as “appalling” that White escaped justice for 28 years but adds: “We have uncovered so many flaws in the police investigation that it hardly comes as a surprise.”
The Daily Mirror carries a report alleging that White assaulted a black shop worker in 2020 and threatened the man by telling him: “You’ll be Stephen Lawrenced.”
The inquest into the death of Nicola Bulley, the 45-year-old mother-of-two whose disappearance in January sparked a weeks-long police search, has heard that she drowned after falling into an icy river and was not harmed by any third party, the Metro reports.
The Sun says the inquest was told Bulley would have drowned within ten seconds of entering the river. It says that, asked if that was any evidence she had been attacked, Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour replied: “No, there is not.”
And the Daily Express carries a plea to bank bosses to guarantee that they will keep branches open to help customers through the cost of living crisis and save the UK’s high streets. The paper quotes Mandy Beech, a senior executive at the Nationwide building society, saying branches are about “much more than cash and opening accounts” and that retailers should commit to “being there today, let alone tomorrow”.
