Wagner boss confirms cancellation of advance on Moscow
Moscow (IANS). The private military company (PMC) of the Wagner Group is returning to its field camp. This has been said in a media report quoting PMC leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
His units revolted overnight, taking control of several military and administrative installations in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, as well as advancing towards Moscow, reports RT.
Prigozhin said that the rebellion reached the brink of great bloodshed. He reported that Wagner’s advancing column would return to their camps as planned.
They wanted to disband PMC Wagner, he was quoted as saying by Russian media outlets. On 23rd June, we went on a justice march in a day. We advanced only 200 km from Moscow and during this time we did not shed a single drop of blood of our fighters.
However, during the course of the rebellion, the private military organization reportedly shot down several planes and clashed repeatedly with Russian forces.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced on Saturday that he has arranged a deal under which Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin will give up his insurgency in exchange for security guarantees for his fighters, media outlets reported.
Yevgeny Prigozhin accepted President Alexander Lukashenko’s proposal to stop the movement of Wagner’s armed men in Russia and take further steps to reduce tensions, a statement from Lukashenko’s office said.
According to the statement, Lukashenko and Prigozhin held talks throughout the day and reached an agreement on the inadmissibility of starting bloodshed on the territory of Russia.
As RT reports, Lukashenko’s office said the talks were held in coordination with Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that Prigozhin found an advantageous and acceptable way to resolve the situation with security guarantees for the Wagner PMC fighters. Alternatives were offered.
The news came as Wagner’s convoy approached Moscow, several hours after members of the private military organization passed through the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
In a series of video statements released on Friday, Prigozhin announced he was moving to Moscow to confront Russian military officials he considered corrupt.
–IANS
