RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin on Monday blasted organisers of a weekend revolt, the gravest threat yet to his power, as traitors who played into the hands of Ukraine’s Government and its allies. Speaking in a stern tone and looking tired in a five-minute TV address near midnight, Putin sought to project stability.

 

He tried to strike a balance between criticising the uprising’s perpetrators to prevent another crisis, and not antagonising the bulk of the mercenaries and their hardline supporters, some of whom are incensed at the Kremlin’s handling of the situation. Putin, whose troops are stretched thin in the face of a Ukrainian counteroffensive, praised the rank and file mercenaries for not letting the situation descend into “major bloodshed.” He said, the nation had stood united, although there had been localised signs of support for the uprising.