President Putin announced the refusal of Prigozhin from his proposal on the fate of PMC “Wagner”
Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time revealed the details of the meeting with the founder of the private military company (PMC) “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin and the commanders of this group. The meeting took place in the Kremlin on June 29, five days after the rebellion undertaken by Prigozhin and PMC fighters, but it became known only on July 10 – first the French press reported this, and then the information was confirmed by the President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov /
Putin’s proposals
According to the President, at the meeting, he offered the representatives of PMCs several employment options, including the continuation of service under the leadership of their immediate commander with the call sign gray-haired. Putin clarified that these options also included “combat use.”
All of them could gather in one place and continue to serve. And nothing would change for them. They would be led by the same person who was their real commander all this time
The head of state noted that many of those present nodded when he spoke about this. However, Yevgeny Prigozhin, according to Putin, was sitting in front and did not see this, and refused the president’s proposal: “No, the guys do not agree with such a decision.”
The head of state did not give details of other proposals on the fate of PMCs.
How Putin assessed the rebellion
The President admitted that he regrets the events of June 24. “Everything is very simple and obvious for the Russian society. Ordinary Wagner soldiers fought with dignity, so … The fact that they were involved in these events is regrettable, ”he explained.
Putin added that at the meeting on June 29, he also assessed the results of PMCs on the battlefield and the actions of the fighters on the day of the rebellion.
What Putin thinks about the legal status of private military companies
In response to a question about whether the Wagner PMC will remain as a combat unit, the president noted that this organization does not formally exist in Russia at all, since “there is no such legal entity.”
PMC “Wagner” does not exist! We don’t have a law on private military organizations! It just doesn’t exist!
According to Putin, there is a separate issue related to the actual legalization of PMCs in Russia. “But this is an issue that should be discussed in the State Duma, in the government. It is not an easy question,” the head of state added.
Mercenary activity, including the recruitment, training and financial support of mercenaries, is formally a criminal offense in Russia and is punishable by long prison terms. The Wagner group, in turn, openly hired and trained fighters, and only at the beginning of July announced the suspension of recruitment. Putin, after the rebellion, repeatedly stated that the state provided the group with funding, weapons and various equipment.
What happens to Wagner after the mutiny
The group is expected in field camps on the territory of Belarus, where they were invited by the President of the Republic Alexander Lukashenko. The Belarusian Ministry of Defense stated that they intended to exchange experience with PMC fighters upon their arrival in the country. The authorities of the republic have not yet recorded the arrival of the Wagnerites and noted that they do not know either the timing of the arrival, or whether a final decision has been made to place the group in Belarus. One of the high-ranking commanders of the Wagner saidthat before the beginning of August, the PMC fighters were sent on vacation, and after that a transition to Belarusian territory will be made.
Related materials:
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on July 12 that the transfer to the military of equipment and weapons at the disposal of PMCs was completed. Meanwhile at the Pentagon notedwhich, as of July 13, does not record “significant participation of PMC” Wagner “in the battles on the territory of Ukraine.”
At the moment, there is no exact information about the fate of Yevgeny Prigozhin, who, following negotiations with Lukashenka, agreed to move to Belarus. On July 11, various monitoring resources recorded the third arrival of a business jet associated with Prigozhin to a military airfield near Minsk since June 24. Lukashenka, in turn, said on July 6 that the founder of the PMC was in St. Petersburg, but “maybe he went to Moscow in the morning.” The Kremlin said on the same day that they “have neither the ability nor the desire” to follow Prigozhin’s movements.
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