Wagner’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin met with Vladimir Putin after a mutiny

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July 10, 2023, 12:12 GMT

Updated 44 minutes ago

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The Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin met with mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin after the failed Wagner Group insurgency last month.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added that Prigozhin, who heads the mercenary group, was among 35 Wagner leaders invited to the meeting in Moscow.

He said President Putin had given an “assessment” of the war effort in Ukraine and the insurgency.

The rebellion, which broke out on June 23, lasted only 24 hours.

Under an agreement to end the rebellion, which saw Wagner’s forces capture a city and march on Moscow, charges against Prigozhin were dropped and he was offered a move to Belarus.

There was a very public infighting between Wagner and the Russian Defense Ministry over the conduct of the war. Prigozhin repeatedly accused the Ministry of failing to provide his group with ammunition.

But Peskov said on Monday that the Wagner commander was among those invited to the Kremlin five days after the collapse of the rebellion.

“The president gave an assessment of the company’s work on the front,” Peskov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

“He also gave an assessment of the events of June 24. Putin listened to the commanders’ explanations and proposed variables for their future employment and future use in combat.”

According to the speaker, Prigozhin told Putin that Wagner supported him unconditionally.

The current whereabouts of Wagner’s chief is unclear.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who brokered the deal that ended the rebellion, said Prigozhin was in Russia last Thursday.

The BBC tracked Prigozhin’s private jet, which was en route to Belarus in late June, back to Russia the same night.

The Wagner Group is a private army that has been fighting alongside the regular Russian army in Ukraine since last year’s invasion.

But after setbacks for Russia on the battlefield, Prigozhin took to social media to criticize the high command.

He was particularly scathing about Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov — the two most senior figures directing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Prigozhin did not directly condemn Putin during the revolt, but analysts called it the biggest challenge to the president’s authority in more than two decades in power.

Meanwhile, General Gerasimov is seen in public for the first time since the mutiny.

There was speculation that Wagner’s march was canceled in exchange for the general’s dismissal. However, footage broadcast on Russian television on Monday shows him issuing orders to attack Ukrainian missile sites.

He is heard discussing recent events, which suggests the video was made after the rebellion.

The video indicates that President Vladimir Putin has kept Shoigu and General Gerasimov in their posts.

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