Russia says Wagner Group leader moving to Belarus after rebellious march
Mercenary forces were on their way to Moscow in suspected coup attempt
The rebellious Russian mercenary commander who ordered his troops to march on Moscow before abruptly reversing course will move to neighboring Belarus and not face prosecution, the Kremlin said Saturday, as part of a deal to defuse a crisis that represented the most significant challenge to President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power.
The charges against Yevgeny Prigozhin for mounting an armed rebellion will be dropped and the troops who joined him also will not be prosecuted, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced, and fighters from his Wagner Group who did not take part in the uprising will be offered contracts by the Defense Ministry.
Mr. Putin had vowed to punish those behind the uprising led by his onetime protege, whose forces seized a key military facility in southern Russia before advancing on the capital. In a televised speech to the nation, Mr. Putin called the rebellion a “betrayal” and “treason.”
In allowing Mr. Prigozhin and his forces to go free, Mr.
Peskov said Mr. Putin’s “highest goal” was “to avoid bloodshed and internal confrontation with unpredictable results.”
Moscow had braced for the arrival of the Wagner forces by erecting checkpoints with armored vehicles and troops. Red Square was shut down, and the mayor urged motorists to stay off some roads.
But after the deal was struck, Mr. Prigozhin announced that while his men were just 120 miles from Moscow, he had decided to retreat to avoid “shedding Russian blood.” His troops were ordered back to their field camps in Ukraine, where they have been fighting alongside Russian regular soldiers.
Mr. Prigozhin has demanded the ouster of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, long the target of his withering criticism. On Friday, he accused forces under Mr. Shoigu’s command of attacking Wagner camps and killing “a huge number of our comrades.” The Defense Ministry has denied this.
Mr. Prigozhin did not say whether the Kremlin had responded to his demand. Mr. Peskov said the issue could
not have been discussed during the negotiations, which were conducted by the president of Belarus, and is the “exclusive prerogative of the commander in chief.”
If Putin were to agree to Mr. Shoigu’s ouster, it could be politically damaging for the president after he branded Mr. Prigozhin a backstabbing traitor.
Early Saturday, Mr. Prigozhin’s private army
appeared to control the military headquarters in Rostovon-Don, a city 660 miles south of Moscow that runs Russian operations in Ukraine, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said.
A video from the city posted on Russian messaging app channels showed people cheering Wagner troops as they left Rostov-onDon. Wagner troops and equipment also were in
Lipetsk province, about 225 miles south of Moscow.
Authorities declared a “counterterrorist regime” in Moscow and its surrounding region, enhancing security and restricting some movement. On the southern outskirts, troops erected checkpoints, arranged sandbags and set up machine guns.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin warned that traffic could be restricted in parts
of the capital and declared Monday a non-working day for most residents.
The dramatic developments came exactly 16 months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine that has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions and reduced cities to rubble.
Ukrainians hoped the Russian infighting would create opportunities for its army to take back territory seized by Russian forces.
Ben Barry, senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that even with a deal, Mr. Putin’s position has probably been weakened and “these events will have been of great comfort to the Ukrainian government and the military.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Saturday, shortly before Mr. Prigozhin announced his retreat, that the march exposed weakness in the Kremlin and “showed all Russian bandits, mercenaries, oligarchs” that it is easy to capture Russian cities “and, probably, arsenals.”
Switching into Russian in his daily video address, Mr. Zelenskyy said “the man from the Kremlin” was “very afraid.” He repeated his calls for the West to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles.