(Adds quotes, background)MOSCOW, June 26 (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Monday that the country had faced "a challenge to its stability" and must remain united behind President Vladimir Putin following Saturday's abortive mutiny by heavily armed mercenary fighters. "The main thing in these conditions is to ensure the sovereignty and independence of our country, the security and well-being of citizens," said Mishustin, a technocrat who was appointed prime minister in 2020. Mishustin, a former head of Russia's federal tax service, also took a swipe at the West. "As the president noted, virtually the entire military, economic, information machine of the West is directed against us," he said. Putin said on Saturday that the rebellion by the Wagner mercenary force had threatened Russia's very existence under threat and vowed to crush it.

Source: Wall Street Journal June 26, 2023 10:27 UTC