The Russian military has received the weapons that belonged to the Wagner Group’s mercenaries, the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday. This comes after last month’s short uprising by the private army against the Kremlin. Wagner’s disarmament, which looks to mark the end of the mercenary group’s activities in Ukraine, reflects the government’s attempts to diminish its danger.
The operations take place amid ambiguity over the fate of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner, and the conditions of the agreement that put an end to the planned disobedience by granting amnesty for him and his mercenaries as well as permission to relocate to Belarus. More than 2,000 pieces of equipment, including tanks, rocket launchers, heavy artillery, and air defence systems, as well as more than 2,500 metric tonnes of weaponry and more than 20,000 firearms, according to the Defence Ministry, were among the items given up.
The meeting between Prigozhin and 34 of his senior commanders and President Vladimir Putin on June 29, five days after the uprising, was recognised by the Kremlin on Monday. The declaration is made in reaction to such admission. Wagner’s commanders, according to Kremlin official Dmitry Peskov, vowed allegiance to Putin and said that they were ready “to keep on battling for the Country.” Putin said that Wagner soldiers had to choose between leaving the military or moving to Belarus to sign contracts with the Defence Ministry.
The Kremlin’s admission that Putin spoke with Prigozhin, who led soldiers to Moscow to demand the removal of the country’s senior military officials, raised additional questions about the agreement that put an end to the opposition.
Rebellion as a treasonous act
Putin denounced the uprising as a treasonous act when it first started and vowed to punish anyone who took part harshly. However, as part of the agreement, the body of criminal evidence against Prigozhin was abandoned hours later. The Wagner leader may also face an arrest for financial misconduct or other punishments concurrently, as is evident.
Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, said last week that his nation provided Wagner field camps, but Prigozhin was in Russia and his men stayed in their home camps. He was the one who brokered the deal that put the mutiny to an end. Prigozhin and the Russian government’s choices would influence their deployment to Belarus, according to Lukashenko.
