Putin met with Wagner chief days after tried mutiny, Kremlin reveals
ussian President Vladimir Putin met with mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin days after he led his personal military on a short-lived rebel towards Moscow, the Kremlin has revealed.
Mr Prigozhin and his personal Wagner group carried out the tried rebellion on June 24, taking management of the Russian metropolis of Rostov in what Putin branded a “treasonous mutiny”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has now revealed a three-hour assembly occurred June 29 – 5 days after Mr Prigozhin staged an tried rebellion – between the president and the mercenary chief.
It additionally concerned commanders from Wagner, the navy firm Mr Prigozhin based.
Mr Peskov mentioned that in the course of the assembly, Putin supplied an “assessment” of the Wagner group’s actions on the battlefield in Ukraine and “of the events of June 24.”
The president additionally “listened to the explanations of the commanders and offered them options for further employment and further use in combat,” the Kremlin spokesman mentioned.
“The commanders themselves presented their version of what happened. They underscored that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the commander-in-chief, and also said that they are ready to continue to fight for their homeland,” Mr Peskov mentioned.
Wagner mercenaries have fought alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, however Mr Prigozhin has a long-simmering battle with the Russian navy’s high brass.
This culminated within the armed mutiny through which Mr Prigozhin led his fighters into Russia on June 24.
Mr Prigozhin ended the mutiny after a deal was brokered, through which it was agreed he could be exiled to Belarus.
But Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko revealed final week Mr Prigozhin is reportedly already again in Russia.
“As for Prigozhin, he’s in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus,” Mr Lukashenko informed reporters on Thursday.
Critics have mentioned the tried rebellion by Mr Prigozhin, although short-lived, exposed ”real cracks” in Putin’s authority.