The Wagner Group in Rostov
The Wagner Group stops but in 24 hours it has exposed the weakness of Putin’s power
Evgeny Prigozhin, who led a spectacular rebellion in Russiawill leave the country for Belarus, while the criminal investigation against him will be closed, the Kremlin announced in the evening, welcoming the agreement reached with the Wagner leader “to avoid a bloodbath”. Fifteen soldiers of the Russian army were killed during the advance towards Moscow by the Wagner militiamen. This was reported by the independent Belarusian site Nexta, citing pro-Kremlin Telegram channels.
After a full day of armed insurrection, the businessman at the head of the mercenary militia finally ordered his men marching towards Moscow to “turn back” and “go back to the fields”, following the mediation of the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. Prigozhin “will go to Belarus,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced in the evening, swearing that the head of the Wagners “had the word of the president” Vladimir Putin. “The criminal case against him will be withdrawn,” she added, and “no one will persecute” the fighters who followed Prigozhin in his feat, “given their merits on the Ukrainian front.”
“Some of them, if they wish, will sign contracts with the Defense Ministry,” Peskov said, without providing further details. The Kremlin spokesman praised Lukashenko’s mediating role in resolving tensions that have rocked Russian power like never before. “We are grateful to the President of Belarus for his diplomatic efforts,” Peskov stressed, referring to a “very long and frankly warm” discussion between the two leaders, allied against the West in Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine.
“The situation was resolved without new victims, without increasing the level of tension”, he added, amid fears of a direct confrontation between Russian security forces and Moscow-bound Wagner fighters. Dmitry Peskov also stressed that Alexander Lukashenko “has known Prigozhin personally for a long time, for more than 20 years” and that it was “a personal initiative of his” to resolve the situation.
Despite this “rather tough day, full of rather tragic events”, Peskov insisted that Prigozhin’s attempt to overthrow military power will “in no way” affect the course of the Russian offensive in Ukraine. “The special military operation continues. Our troops managed to repel the Ukrainian counter-offensive,” he told the press, just as Kiev’s troops tried to break through the Russian defenses.
Kiev: “Prigozhin has humiliated Putin”
Even if resolved, the story of the rebellion risks exposing the weaknesses of Putin’s system. The leader of the Wagner paramilitary group, Evgeny Prigozhin, he “humiliated Putin” by leading a rebellion with his men, this was stated by the adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, following an agreement between the Kremlin and Wagner, after a day of armed insurrection that shook Russian power. “Prigozhin humiliated Putin/State and showed that there is no longer a monopoly on legitimate violence in Russia,” Mykhailo Podoliak joked on Twitter.
Republic writes:He feared the color revolutions in the satellite republics. However, he was unaware that he was cultivating his nemesis in his bosom. Yevgeny Prigozhin was his creature. He owed him everything. Yet he has turned into Frankenstein’s monster who has rebelled against his creator. And that yesterday suddenly dealt him an almost fatal blow before the eyes of the world“. According to Repubblica, iThe power of the Russian president may now crumble.
US intelligence knew about the Wagner uprising
American intelligence was aware that Wagner was planning an insurrection. Kyiv Independent writes it quoting the Washington Post. “US intelligence agencies knew that Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was planning an uprising against the Russian military establishment since mid-June”.
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