More confusion around the Prigozhin affair. The Kremlin has affirmed this Monday that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, met with the head of the Wagner mercenaries on June 29, that is, five days after the group marched on Moscow in an ephemeral rebellion. Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters that Putin invited 35 people to the meeting, including unit commanders, and that it lasted for three hours. Wagner’s commanders promised Putin that they would remain “his soldiers” for him and fight for him, Peskov added.
According to the spokesman, Putin “gave his assessment of the performance of the company (Wagner) at the front in the framework of the special military operation and also of the events of June 24.” Putin listened to “the commanders’ explanations” and offered them employment options after the rebellion, according to the Kremlin. “The commanders themselves put forward their version of what happened and stressed that they were staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the commander-in-chief,” Peskov added.
The brief mob led by Prigozhin, in which Wagner’s fighters eventually seized control of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, presented Putin with the biggest challenge to his hold on power since he took over as Russia’s leader last year. day of 1999. The conflict was resolved with the apparent mediation -without specifying details- of the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Since then, Putin has thanked his army and security services for averting civil war. For his part, Prigozhin has declared that the rebellion was not intended to overthrow the Government, but to “bring to justice” the heads of the army and defense, for alleged blunders and unprofessional actions in Ukraine.
Prigozhin was due to go to Belarus under the terms of the deal, but Lukashenko said last week that he was back in Russia and that Wagner’s fighters had not yet accepted the offer to move to Belarus, raising questions about how the deal is being implemented. agreement.
