Also for mercenary chief Prigozhin
Russia drops criminal proceedings against Wagner
06/27/2023 11:37 am
At the weekend, Wagner mercenaries marched towards Moscow to overthrow the Russian military leadership. They give up the rebellion, in return for which the Kremlin guarantees them impunity. Moscow is now fulfilling its promise: the proceedings will be completed.
After the armed uprising of the Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner army, the criminal proceedings against him have been ended, as announced by the Kremlin. In view of the end of the “criminal acts”, the proceedings initiated on Friday have now been discontinued, Russian news agencies reported, citing the domestic secret service FSB.
According to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, pilots who had attacked the Wagner column on its march towards Moscow were also killed in the armed uprising. Several helicopters and one plane were shot down. Russian military bloggers estimated at the weekend that at least a dozen Russian soldiers had died.
Amazement in the great kingdom
Mercenary boss Prigozhin surprisingly stopped his march towards Moscow on Saturday after negotiations. According to his own statements, he wanted to prevent bloodshed among Russian soldiers and therefore turned back 200 kilometers from the Russian capital. He had also occupied the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and withdrew from there as well.
President Putin confirmed on Monday evening that his disgraced ex-confidant could find refuge with his fighters in Belarus. He called the renegade Wagner people “traitors”. It was still unclear whether Prigozhin was already in Belarus. According to reports, his plane has already landed in Minsk. Putin offered the loyal part of the Wagner squad to sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense.
In a speech on Saturday, Putin declared that the masterminds of the uprising would face their “inevitable punishment.” The fact that the Kremlin declared a little later that the rebels would get away scot-free after the end of the revolt and the withdrawal from Russia caused astonishment in the huge empire. Anyone who criticizes Putin’s war against Ukraine, even in the slightest, risks years of imprisonment in Russia. Commentators interpreted Putin’s concession as weakness on the part of the Kremlin boss.