TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Russian President Vladimir Putin offer opportunities to mercenaries Wagner to continue fighting in gathering just days after the failed uprising. But on condition, Yevgeny Prigozhin had to give up his position as commander, the newspapers said Kommersant.
Putin initially said he would crush the June 23-24 uprising, comparing it to the wartime chaos that ushered in the 1917 revolution. But hours later, an agreement was reached to allow Prigozhin and his troops to step aside. Belarus.
The fate of the deal and the future of Wagner, one of the world’s most formidable mercenary armies, and Prigozhin, an ex-convict who has come to be known as “Putin’s chef” and Russia’s most powerful mercenary, are so far unclear.
The Kremlin said on Monday, July 10, 2023, that Putin held talks with commanders Wagner and Prigozhin at a meeting on June 29, five days after the uprising. Wagner, said the Kremlin, reaffirmed their loyalty to Putin.
But Kommersantone of Russia’s top newspapers, published Putin’s statement to the Kremlin’s most experienced correspondent, Andrei Kolesnikov, which put the future of Prigozhin and Wagner in doubt.
“But Wagner is not around,” Putin told him Kommersant when asked if it would be retained as a combat unit. “There’s no law on private military organization. It doesn’t exist.”
Asked about Putin’s remarks, the Kremlin said on Friday that there was no legal entity named Wagner and that the legal status of such companies was complicated to consider.
Putin then recounted details about a meeting in the Kremlin on June 29 with 35 Wagner commanders in which he suggested several options for them to continue fighting, including that of a senior Wagner figure known by the nom de guerre “Sedoi” – or “gray hair” – take over the lead.
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“Sedoi” was the nickname of Andrei Troshev, a senior Wagner commander, according to European Union sanctions documents, official French documents, sources familiar with the matter and Russian media reports.
A highly respected veteran of Russia’s wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya, hails from St Petersburg, Putin’s hometown, and was photographed with the president.
“They could all gather in one place and continue to serve,” said Putin Kommersant quoting Putin. “And nothing will change for them. They will be led by the same person who has been their true commander all along.”
Putin said that many commanders nodded their heads at his suggestion, but Prigozhin, who was sitting at the front, did not see this, said Kommersant.
“‘No, the children will not agree to such a decision,'” Putin quoted Prigozhin as saying.
The statement did not appear in a transcript of official Kremlin comments Putin made to Kolesnikov and a state television reporter on Thursday. Prigozhin did not return requests for comment.
Biden joke
Prigozhin has not been seen in public since leaving the southern Russian city of Rostov on June 24, 2023.
US President Joe Biden on Thursday said the United States was not sure where Prigozhin was but jokingly suggested the mercenary’s head could have been poisoned.
“If I were him, I would be careful what I eat. I would watch my menu,” Biden said, according to a White House transcript.
“But everyone’s joking … I don’t think any of us know for sure what Prigozhin’s future will be in Russia.”
Wagner helped Russia annex Crimea in 2014, battle Islamic State militants in Syria, operate in the Central African Republic and Mali, and captured the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut for Russia earlier this year at heavy losses on both sides.
For months before the uprising, Prigozhin had openly insulted the most senior military men, using various expletives and prison slang.
He insisted his June 23-24 action was only aimed at resolving issues with military top brass who he said were losing the war on Ukraine. He said he was not challenging Putin or the Russian state.
REUTERS
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