ISTANBUL
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, and his commanders just days after a high-profile “rebellion” by the paramilitary group, the Kremlin said Monday.
“The president had such a meeting. He invited 35 people to it – all the commanders of the detachments and the leadership of the company, including Prigozhin himself,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a press briefing.
Saying that the meeting on June 29 lasted for three hours, Peskov added that Putin “gave an assessment of the company’s actions at the front during the special military operation” – using the Kremlin’s term for the Ukraine war – “and also gave his assessment of the events of June 24,” referring to the weekend of the rebellion.
“Putin listened to the explanations of the (Wagner) commanders and offered them further options for employment and further combat use … The commanders themselves presented their version of what happened,” Peskov added.
Peskov also said the commanders supported Putin and “were ready to continue to fight for the Motherland,” adding that this is all he could say about the meeting.
On June 24, Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry of attacking its fighters, declared a “March of Justice,” and set off toward Moscow.
The Russian Federal Security Service designated Wagner Group’s action “an armed rebellion” and opened a criminal case against Prigozhin, while President Vladimir Putin called the private military company’s uprising an act of “treason.”
Prigozhin, however, later turned back “to avoid bloodshed” and has since reportedly moved to Russia’s ally Belarus under a deal brokered by President Alexander Lukashenko.
