Russia has given Wagner’s private military group 3 options after the failed rebellion of this force at the end of June.
“For Wagner members, they have three options,” Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Lyudmila Vorobieva said at a press conference on July 5.
These options include: signing a contract and becoming part of the Russian Defense Ministry, moving with tycoon Yevgeny Prigozhin to Belarus, or returning to his family.
Ambassador Vorobieva reiterated that Russia will not punish or arrest Wagner members because most of them do not know what happened. “Most of the Wagner members didn’t know what was going on. They were told it was just an exercise. They didn’t know what the purpose of it was,” the Russian diplomat said.
According to Vorobieva, the reason Russia offered those options to Wagner was because Moscow appreciated their contributions to the military campaign in Ukraine.
“We cannot deny that their contributions are very great. Therefore, sign a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry and become part of our armed forces,” said Ambassador Vorobieva.
On the other hand, she also condemned the act of rebellion. “Of course, it is a very dangerous situation because any armed rebellion, as we have seen in other countries, entails suffering and tragedy for the country,” the diplomat said. Russia emphasized.
Wagner’s rebellion was quickly quelled, she said, in part because the majority of its members did not support such a development.
On the evening of June 23, tycoon Wagner Prigozhin suddenly accused the Russian military of launching rocket attacks on their makeshift camps in Ukraine, killing many members of this force. At that time, he vowed to lead 25,000 Wagner soldiers from the battlefield in Ukraine, across the border into the Rostov region in southern Russia in a “march for justice”.
After capturing important Russian military facilities in Rostov, Wagner’s forces continued to head towards Moscow, forcing Moscow to enact counter-terrorism measures.
The march ended quickly after 24 hours. On the evening of June 24, Prigozhin ordered Wagner forces to stop the march, withdraw from the occupied military facilities, and return to the base.
The decision was made after boss Wagner reached an agreement with the Kremlin. Under this agreement, Mr. Prigozhin agreed to move to Belarus. In return, Russia dropped the criminal investigation against him and the Wagner members involved in the mutiny.
Until now, the whereabouts of tycoon Prigozhin is still very mysterious. Russian media reported that on July 4, he returned from Belarus to the city of St.Petersburg (Russia) to receive weapons confiscated by the Russian Federal Security Service during a raid on Wagner headquarters before there.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko also confirmed today: “He (Prigozhin) is in St. Petersburg. He is not present in Belarusian territory.”
He said that the issue of relocating Wagner troops was still not resolved. He and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are expected to discuss this issue in the near future.
