Putin warns Wagner Group will be ‘brought to justice’ and attacks 'mutiny who betrayed their country'

The Russian president also claimed that "neo-Nazis in Kyiv and the West" had wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other.

It comes after Yevgeny Prigozhin's mercenary group turned back to their bases on Saturday after agreeing to de-escalate the rebellion to "avoid bloodshed."

In Monday night's address, Putin said: "The country was united against this armed mutiny.

"The organisers of the mutiny were betraying their country.

"The organisers of this rebellion cannot but understand that they will be brought to justice."

The Wagner Group were on their way to Moscow after the mercenary group turned against the Kremlin over claims that Russia has been targeting Wagner soldiers.

During his speech, Putin thanked Wagner mercenary fighters and commanders who had stood down to avoid bloodshed and Belarus's president Alexander Lukashenko for a peaceful resolution.

The Russian leader also said he would honour his promise to allow Wagner fighters to relocate to Belarus if they wanted, or to sign a contract with the Defence Ministry or simply return to their families.

"By turning back [from their march on Moscow], they avoided further bloodshed. We have to think about the people who actually decided to take this step, which would have had tragic and devastating consequences for Russia as a whole," Putin said.

"I would like to thank those commanders and soldiers of the Wagner private company who took the right decision to stop and go back, and prevent bloodshed."

He insisted that 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".

The 70-year-old made a separate national address earlier today condemning Prigozhin’s rebellion on Saturday, labelling the mutiny a “stab in the back”.

The deal prevented possible bloodshed by allowing 25,000 Wagner Group troops to return to base midway through their march to Moscow.