The president’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Monday that Putin held talks with Prigozhin and senior Wagner leaders in the Kremlin for nearly three hours on June 29, Russian news services reported. Peskov said the leaders pledged allegiance to Putin as head of state and commander-in-chief and declared their readiness to continue fighting for Russia.
The meeting raises new questions about the June 24 revolution, which Putin said brought Russia into conflict edge The civil war, as well as the deal that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered to end it. While Putin has said he allowed Prigozhin to go to Belarus under the agreement, the Wagner founder has shown little sign that he plans to leave Russia, and his presence in the Kremlin indicates he feels confident about his security.
Wagner’s leadership also appears to be intact despite the Defense Ministry’s July 1 deadline for its fighters to either sign contracts with the Russian military, return home, or leave for Belarus. The ministry did not say how many Wagner mercenaries had registered.
Peskov stated that Putin “listened to the leaders’ explanations” about the rebellion and “gave his assessment,” according to the Interfax news service. He said that about 35 of Wagner’s commanders attended and that the president offered them more opportunities for employment and participation in combat operations.
| Schedule of major events |
|---|
| Late June 23: Prigozhin threatens the “march of justice” to overthrow Heads of the Ministry of Defense |
| June 24: Wagner’s troops approach Moscow before Prigozhin to stop insurgency |
| June 27: President of Belarus Lukashenko says Prigozhin receipt in his |
| July 6: Lukashenko says Prigozhin is back In Russia |
| July 10: The Kremlin reveal Putin and Prigozhin held a meeting on June 29 |
While the Kremlin described the meeting as an expression of Wagner’s loyalty to Putin, it sharply contrasted his rhetoric during the revolt when he said those involved had “betrayed Russia and will pay back for it.”
Russian state media has also launched a relentless campaign of attacks on Prigozhin, portraying him as corrupt and reversing earlier praises for Wagner’s battlefield effectiveness in Ukraine.
said Yevgeny Minchenko, a Moscow-based political advisor. “This is an asset that Russia has invested a lot in in recent years.”
Putin claims he is back in control. The Russian elite is not sure
Two days before he met Presidents Prigozhin and Wagner, Putin told 2,500 Russian soldiers collage In the Kremlin that the country has avoided “civil war”. He later said that about $3.25 billion was disbursed from the state budget last year to fund Wagner’s military operations in Ukraine and to pay Prigozhin’s catering company for food supplies to the army.
Prigozhin had not been seen in public since the 24-hour mutiny was called off as his forces came within 200 kilometers (124 mi) of Moscow, and he met little resistance from army units. He repeatedly accused Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov of failing to conduct the war in Ukraine and claimed that they were seeking to “destroy” Wagner.
While the Kremlin has sought since then Repeat Putin’s authority, by being shown meeting security officials and being cheered on by ordinary Russians at public events, has left them scratching their heads about the political fallout from the revolution that shattered his image as Russia’s invincible leader.
The Kremlin announcement of the meeting came hours after Gerasimov’s announcement has been shown on state television for the first time since the failed rebellion aimed at overthrowing him and Shoigu. He was shown in a short video receiving battlefield reports from officials.
Putin’s Hunt is the epicenter of the Kremlin’s catering rebellion
Putin appointed Gerasimov as head of the Russian invasion force in January in place of General Sergei Surovikin, who has not appeared in public since the end of the Wagner Rebellion.
Surovikin, who was praised by Prigozhin, was interrogated by investigators his prayer to Chief Wagner, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the security services seek to determine whether elements of the military may have known in advance of the mutiny.DM
