Wagner leader’s exile ends Russia revolt but leaves questions about Putin’s power
- The chief of the rebel Wagner mercenary force will go to Belarus, easing Russia’s most serious security crisis in decades
- Brief rebellion was the biggest threat to President Vladimir Putin’s grip on Russia in his almost quarter-century rule
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Russia revolt ends in Wagner leader’s exile but leaves questions about Putin’s authority
The greatest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power fizzled out after the rebellious mercenary commander who ordered his troops to march on Moscow abruptly reached a deal with the Kremlin to go into exile and sounded the retreat.
The brief revolt, though, exposed vulnerabilities among Russian government forces, with Wagner Group soldiers under the command of Yevgeny Prigozhin able to move unimpeded into the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and advance hundreds of kilometres toward Moscow. The Russian military scrambled to defend Russia’s capital.
Under the deal announced Saturday by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Prigozhin will go to neighbouring Belarus, which has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Charges against him of mounting an armed rebellion will be dropped.
The government also said it would not prosecute Wagner fighters who took part, while those who did not join in were to be offered contracts by the Defence Ministry. Prigozhin ordered his troops back to their field camps in Ukraine, where they have been fighting alongside Russian regular soldiers.
Putin had vowed earlier to punish those behind the armed uprising led by his one-time protégé. In a televised speech to the nation, he called the rebellion a “betrayal” and “treason”.