Russia is now “back to normal” after a deal brokered by Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko ended the short-lived mutiny by a paramilitary organization there, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said on Monday, June 26. Members of Wagner Group prepare to pull out from the headquarters of the Southern Military District to return to their base in Rostov-on-Don late on June 24, 2023. (Roman Romokhov/AFP) The official told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo that they are continuously coordinating with some 11 Filipinos based in Rostov-on-Don, which was initially occupied by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner group. There are 10,000 Filipinos currently in Russia, 9,000 of them are in Moscow. They are all safe, according to the DFA. “Ngayon, back to normal. Pero ‘yun nga nakikipag-coordinate sa 11 (Filipinos). There was never a time na magulo daw ‘yung Rostov (Now, back to normal. But we coordinate with the 11. There was never reportedly a time that Rostov was in chaos),” De Vega said. “In fact, ‘yung mga Filipino doon, lahat ng andoon, ordinary, kumukuha pa raw ng photo ng mga tanke. Hindi nagkaroon ng putukan (the Filipinos there, everyone there, ordinary, they take photos of the military tanks. There was no shooting),” he added. For the DFA official, this latest development shows that there is a bit of stability in Russia “to say the least.” The 36 hours of clashes between the Wagner group and Russia’s military threatened domestic stability and the war waged in Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin. It also put into question Putin’s hold to power. But Kremlin and the group reached a deal after Lukashenko’s intervention, which will see Wagner fights either go back to their bases, get shipped to Ukraine, or sign contracts with the military. Prigozhin will head to Belarus and would face no legal sanctions despite earlier threats by Putin. De Vega explained that as Putin’s friend, Lukashenko negotiated the deal that saw the Wagner group’s surrender. “So, nangako si Putin. Originally, sabi niya ikukulong niya lahat. Ngayon, sinabi niya hindi na ikukulong. Siguro iyon ang compromise so at least, tapos na ang tensyon sa Russia (So, Putin promised. Originally, he said he would jail them. Now, he said he won’t jail them. Maybe that’s the compromise so at least the tension in Russia has ended),” he said. The official added that this incident highlighted the need for the embassy to strengthen its coordination with the Filipinos, especially in case of emergencies. He also assured Filipinos that there is a “contingency plan” in case violence erupts. In a CNN report, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the insurrection shows “cracks” in Putin’s leadership.