The leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeni Prigozhin, agreed to stop the advance of his troops through Russian territory and “de-escalate the situation” during talks he held with the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.
Prigozhin announced in a message on Telegram that the caravans that advanced this Saturday towards Moscow givethey were turn around and come backthey were to its bases to avoid a bloodbath on both sides.
The Belarusian president’s press office issued a statement saying that “Prigozhin accepted Lukashenko’s proposal to stop Wagner’s movement on Russian territory and other measures to de-escalate tension.”
“It was possible to find an acceptable alternative to de-escalate [la situación] with security guarantees for Wagner PMC combatants”.
The private army of mercenaries who have been fighting on the side of the Russian forces since the start of the invasion of Ukraine HE rebelled this Saturday against the military high command of the Kremlin, advancing into the interior of Russia, in the direction of Moscow.
According to Russian state media, Prigozhin will travel to Belarus and the charges against him and his mercenaries will be dropped to avoid “bloodshed.”
“March of Justice”
In an audio message posted on Telegram, Prigozhin confirmed the return of his troops to their bases, saying: “They wanted to dismantle the Wagner military company. We embark on a march for justice on June 23.”
“In 24 hours, we reached 200 km from Moscow. During this time we did not shed a single drop of the blood of our fightershe continued.
“Now the time has come when blood might be spilled. Understanding the responsibility (for the possibility) of Russian blood spilling on one side, our columns are turning around and returning to the camps as planned.”
Lukashenko’s press service assured that the negotiations were held with the consent of Vladimir Putin.
Russia has been using the territory of Belarus to launch attacks against Ukraine since the start of the invasion 16 months ago.
The agreement takes place after the authorities in Moscow implemented this Saturday a anti-terrorism operation in anticipation of the arrival of the Wagner Group troops in the capital, which implied the closure of some public spaces such as Red Square, among other measures.
“Stab in the back”
Earlier, in a televised address, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the leader of the Wagner group of treason, embarking on an armed rebellion and giving his country what he called a “stab in the back.”
Putin’s address came after a huge military column from Wagner seize the capital of the Russian region of Rostov-on-Donan important enclave because it houses the headquarters of the Russian command involved in repelling the Ukrainian counter-offensives in southern Ukraine.
Prigozhin’s close ties to the Kremlin and Putin himself go back years.
In fact, the Wagner Group is believed to have defended Russian interests in Syria and Libya, as well as Sudan or the Central African Republic.
In recent months, Prigozhin has repeatedly accused Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov of incompetence and deliberately undersupplying Wagner units fighting in Ukraine.
The straw that seems to have broken the camel’s back is the accusation that the Russian army launched a deadly missile attack against Wagner’s troops in the rear of the Ukrainian war.
The Russian government denied these accusations.
A shame for Putin
Michael O’Hanlon, an analyst at the US think tank Brookings Institution, told the BBC that he believes the deal to halt the advance of Wagner’s troops “makes sense” because the situation in Russia was “extremely risky” from the point of view of view of Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“The idea that Prigozhin could somehow spark a mass revolt against Putin is really a fairy tale,” O’Hanlon said.
However, this is still a “very critical and dangerous moment in Russia”the expert opined.
Several questions remain, too, including what else Prigozhin was offered and what prospects he has of staying alive, O’Hanlon says.
For his part, the BBC Security correspondent, Frank Gardner, affirms that the agreement negotiated by Lukashenko leaves the score at “one to zero for President Putin”.
The BBC correspondent believes that Prigozhin he expected people to “rise up and join him”but that did not happen.
But Gardner acknowledges that it is “deeply shameful” for Putin that Prigozhin was able to cross the border and seize Russia’s Southern District military headquarters without anyone opposing him.
Putin “is not someone who is going to forgive this,” says the journalist.
“I think that Prigozhin’s military and political future must now be over“.
President Putin’s spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, added that those Wagner fighters who want to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry can do so.
“Total chaos”
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, published a video message late on Saturday commenting on what happened during this day.
“Today is a day when there should definitely be no silence. And we definitely need leadership. Today the world saw that the heads of Russia do not control anything. Nothing at all. Total chaos. Total absence of any predictability. And it’s happening on Russian soil, which is fully loaded with weapons.”
Zelensky added that this Saturday “all Russian bandits, mercenaries and oligarchs” saw how easy it isyes “capture Russian cities”.
Once again, he urged Western partners to support Ukraine and help it “protect Europe” with planes and weapons.
Then, switching from Ukrainian to Russian, he said: “The man from the Kremlin is obviously very afraid and is probably hiding somewhere, not showing himself. I am sure that he is no longer in Moscow.
“He knows what he is afraid of because he created this threat himself. All the evil, all the losses, all the hatred, it is he who propagates it,” said the president.
James Nixey, head of the Russia-Eurasia program at Chatham House think tank in London, believes that Ukraine will benefit from this Saturday’s events.
Nixey says Ukraine is likely to continue to put pressure on Russia to try to create implosions inside the country.
In his opinion, this Saturday was the worst day for Vladimir Putin in all his years of presidency.
“You are losing this war [de Ucrania]Nixey opined.
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See original article on BBC