The rebellious Russian mercenary commander who ordered his troops to march on Moscow before abruptly reversing course will move to neighbouring Belarus and will not face prosecution, according to the Kremlin, as part of a deal to defuse a crisis that represented President Vladimir Putin’s most significant challenge in his more than two decades in power.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the charges against Yevgeny Prigozhin for mounting an armed rebellion will be dropped, and troops who joined him will not be prosecuted, and fighters from his Wagner Group who did not take part in the uprising will be offered contracts by the Defence Ministry.
Putin had threatened to punish those responsible for the violent insurrection headed by his former pupil, whose soldiers had captured a key military station in southern Russia before marching on Moscow. In a televised address to the nation, Putin termed the uprising a “betrayal” and “treason.”
Putin’s “highest goal” in allowing Prigozhin and his soldiers to go free, according to Peskov, was “to avoid bloodshed and internal confrontation with unpredictable results.”
Moscow had prepared for the Wagner forces’ arrival by constructing checkpoints with armoured vehicles and personnel on the city’s southern outskirts. Red Square was closed, and the mayor encouraged cars to avoid certain roadways.
However, when the agreement was reached, Prigozhin claimed that, despite being only 200 kilometres (120 miles) from Moscow, he had opted to return in order to prevent “shedding Russian blood.” His forces were ordered to return to their Ukrainian field camps, where they had been fighting alongside Russian regular infantry.
Prigozhin has requested the resignation of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, whom he has frequently chastised for his handling of the Ukrainian war. On Friday, he accused forces led by Shoigu of raiding Wagner camps and killing “a huge number of our comrades.”
Prigozhin did not indicate whether or not the Kremlin reacted to his request. According to Peskov, the subject could not have been discussed during the negotiations, which were led by Belarus’ president, and is the “exclusive prerogative of the commander in chief.”
If Putin agrees to Shoigu’s dismissal, it might be politically costly for the president after he called Prigozhin a traitor.
Source: AP
