Negotiations between Belarus and Wagner were successful
0Furqan PanjwaniJune 25, 2023
Negotiations between Belarus and Wagner were successful, the fighters were ordered to stop their advance towards Moscow and return to their camps.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the private militia Wagner, which carried out an 'armed coup' in Russia, is leaving for Belarus after successful talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, halting his advance towards Moscow.
After the successful negotiations between the President of Belarus and the Wagner chief on Saturday, Yevgeny Prigozhin has ordered his fighters to stop their advance towards Moscow, the capital of Russia, and go back to their camps.
A video clip circulating on Twitter, confirmed by the BBC, shows fighters from the Wagner group leaving the southern Russian city of Rostov and firing in the air as they leave.
The Kremlin says Yevgeny Prigozhin and his soldiers will not be prosecuted. Wagner fighters have reportedly begun to leave the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, where they took control of much of the city after an armed coup early Saturday morning.
Civilians standing on the streets can be heard chanting slogans in favor of the militants. Since Wagner's armed uprising, a number of videos have surfaced of public support for the mercenary group by civilians in the southern city of Rostov.
Prigozhin declared a mutiny against the Russian army and his fighters captured the city of Rostov, including a large military outpost.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a nationally televised address, called Prigozhin's actions "treasonous".
But tensions eased after talks between Prigozhin and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
President Putin vows to 'severely punish' Wagner fighters for 'armed rebellion'
On Saturday, Russia accused the mercenary group Wagner of 'armed rebellion'. President Vladimir Putin says those who divide Russia will be severely punished after tensions between Russian troops and Wagner fighters began Friday night.
In his brief televised address on Saturday, he also stressed that all the "necessary orders" to deal with the crisis had been given, pledging to defend Russia.
President Putin says Russia's future is at stake, describing the rebels' actions as a stab in the back.
President Putin says the 'ambition' of some has led to 'treason', without mentioning Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin.
In his address, Putin said some Russians were 'trapped into criminal adventures', without mentioning the rebel Wagner fighters.
However, he thanks Wagner Group for fighting to defend Russia.
It should be noted that there has been a dramatic increase in fighting between the Russian military and its mercenary Wagner Force fighters. Since Friday night, security has been tightened in Russia, the Internet has been banned and military trucks have been seen on the streets of Moscow.
While the head of Russia's private army or mercenary group Wagner has vowed to 'overthrow' Russia's military leadership. He made the announcement hours after the Kremlin accused him of an 'armed coup'.
President Putin said in his speech that now the anti-terrorist regime is established in the capital Moscow and many other regions.
Recall the videos released early on Saturday morning allegedly showed Wagner's forces entering the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group, said that his Wagner fighters had crossed the border from Ukraine to Russia and entered the city of Rostov-on-Don. And they said that their men would destroy anyone who stood in their way.
He also released a video statement in which he said Wagner's fighters would continue to blockade the city and advance toward Moscow until defense chiefs Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov arrived and met with them.
The local governor urged the citizens there to remain calm and stay indoors.
Mr Prigozhin claimed that his forces had shot down Russian military helicopters which had 'fired on civilian convoy'. He did not elaborate on this and his claim could not be immediately confirmed.
The Wagner Group is a private army of mercenaries regularly fighting alongside the Russian military in Ukraine.
Mr Prigozhin has been sharply critical of Russia's military leadership in recent months, amid growing tensions between them over how to fight the war against Ukraine.
On Friday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, about 62, accused the Russian military of launching a missile attack on his troops & vowed to punish them. However, they did not provide evidence.
Russian authorities have denied the attack and demanded that the Wagner Group stop its 'illegal actions'.
'March for Justice'
Mr Prigozhin said the "evil" of Russia's military leadership must be stopped and vowed to "march for justice".
Meanwhile, the anti-Kremlin tycoon appealed to Russians to support Wagner's leadership. Anti-Kremlin's figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky has request Russians to back Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who had vowed to topple Moscow's military leaderships.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky was once Russia's richest oligarch. "We need to help them now and if need be, we will fight them too," he said.
He spent about 10 years in a Russian prison after falling out with President Putin and has recently called for tougher sanctions against the Russian president Putin. Khodorkovsky said that if Prigozhin decided to take on the Kremlin, it was necessary to support 'the devil' under the circumstances.
"This is just the beginning," he added.
Earlier, the mayor of Moscow announced that anti-terror measures are being taken to strengthen security in the capital. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on Telegram that 'in view of the received information, anti-terrorist measures are being taken in Moscow with the aim of strengthening security measures. Additional security is being deployed on the roads.
He said that 'in such a case, the holding of public events may be restricted. Please understand the importance of steps taken with understanding.'
Earlier, Wagner's chief said in an audio message posted on the social media platform Telegram that "those who killed our fighters, and lost the lives of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers (in the war in Ukraine) Punishment will be given.'
"I ask you not to resist (us)," he added. Anyone who does so will be considered a threat and destroyed. This (warning) is for any checkpoints and flights coming our way. This is not a military coup, it is a march for justice. Our actions do not constitute any interference with the troops.'
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Russian president was receiving 24-hour updates on the situation.
Russia's state news agency Tass said security has been increased at key locations in Moscow, including government buildings and transport facilities, since Friday night. The governor of Russia Lipetsk region is also requesting residents not to travel south.
Lipetsk is 280 km northeast, nearest Ukrainian border and more than 500km north of Rostov.
Writing the Telegram, Governor Igor Artamonov saidb that security measures are being tightened in the region, with a particularly focusing on protecting critical infrastructure's facilities.
In a tweet late on Friday, Ukraine's Defense Ministry simply said, "We are assessing the situation."
What is the Wagner group?
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2014, it was revealed that Prigozhin was no ordinary businessman, but that he was connected to a private military company. This private army was first reported to be fighting Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donbas region.
It is commonly known as 'Wagner'. In addition to Ukraine, Wagner was active throughout Africa and elsewhere. The group was always doing things that could further the Kremlin's agenda.
At present, the command of this group is in the hands of Yevgeny Prigozhin.
According to Dr. Sergey Sukhankin, senior fellow at The Gemstein Foundation think tank, the Wagner group was created by a man named Dmitry Yutkin.
He was a member of the Russian Special Military Squad until 2013.
"At Wagner Group, they recruited people between the ages of 35 and 50 who were burdened by family or debt," says Sukhankan. They mostly came from small towns and had few job opportunities. Some of them were involved in the conflict in Chechnya and some in the Russo-Georgian war. He had experience of war, but he could not find his place in ordinary life.'
Sergei says he was trained for about three months at a facility near the Russian military intelligence department. This led to the conclusion that the group was connected to the Russian military.
It is said that the fighters of this group were sent to many troubled areas of the world.
He said that 'I think Russia wanted it because it did not want to repeat the mistake of Chechnya and Afghanistan. Putin feared that if more Russian soldiers were killed in military operations on foreign soil, it would inflame public anger.'
Thousands of Russian soldiers lost their lives in military operations in Chechnya and Afghanistan. The Wagner Group was not officially part of the army, so its inclusion in the campaign helped keep the casualty count down.
Sergei said, "One of the main reasons, that the Russia could refuse to take responsibility for them," That is, he could say that he has no information about these fighters. Another reason is that it is difficult to send army or paramilitary forces to sensitive places in another country.'
Over time, this is the group of mercenaries who gained a terrible reputation for brutality. Members of Wagner are accused of torturing a Syrian prisoner with a hammer in 2017, beheading him and then setting his body on fire.
In The following year, 3 Russian journalists killed while investigating Wagner's presence in the Central African Republic.
In 2022 Wagner was again accused of murdering a man with a hammer on suspicion that he had 'betrayed' the group in Ukraine.
After members of the European Parliament called for Wagner to be designated as a terrorist group, Prigozhin claimed he had sent politicians a bloody hammer.
For years Prigozin denied having any links to Wagner and even sued those who suggested he did, but then in September 2022 Prigozin said he had founded the group in 2014. .
The US, the EU and the UK have imposed several sanctions on Wagner, but still he is allowed to work in Russia, even though it's law prohibits mercenary activities.