As suddenly as the tensions in Russia have risen, they now seem to have subsided, after a Belarusian-brokered deal was reached between the Russian government and rogue PMC Wagner CEO Evgene Prigozhin, that occupied cities and even sent a small force to ‘march’ on Moscow.
Kremlin says Putin acted “to avoid bloodshed and internal confrontation with unpredictable results.”
Prigozhin stated that he had decided to retreat to avoid “shedding Russian blood.”
The deal entails that Prigozhin will essentially be exiled in Belarus, and reportedly his PMC will patrol the frontier with Poland.
Wagner troops are heading back to their field camps in Ukraine, where they have been fighting alongside Russian Army soldiers.
VIDEO: Wagner troops stand down and go back to frontline positions.
Associated Press reported:
“The rebellious Russian mercenary commander who ordered his troops to march on Moscow before abruptly reversing course will move to neighboring Belarus and not face prosecution, the Kremlin said Saturday, as part of a deal to defuse a crisis that represented the most significant challenge to President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power.
The charges against Yevgeny Prigozhin for mounting an armed rebellion will be dropped and the troops who joined him also will not be prosecuted, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced, and fighters from his Wagner Group who did not take part in the uprising will be offered contracts by the Defense Ministry.”
VIDEO: Civilians in Rogov applaud and embrace departing Wagner forces.
While Ukrainian forces did not take advantage of the chaos in the Russian read to gain any territory, President Zelensky, looking very rough, was quick to take to the media to bash the Russians in his usual fashion.
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Saturday, shortly before Prigozhin announced his retreat, that the march exposed weakness in the Kremlin and ‘showed all Russian bandits, mercenaries, oligarchs’ that it is easy to capture Russian cities ‘and, probably, arsenals’.
Switching into Russian in his daily video address, Zelensky said “the man from the Kremlin” was “very afraid.” He repeated his calls for the West to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles.”
There’s an ongoing mystery regarding the reasons behind Prigozhin’s seemingly erratic behavior, and what would have been the terms struck to make him stand down.
The simplest most obvious reason seems to be that Wagner had refused to sign the contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense and was likely under ultimatum pressure.
As for the terms arranged, one of the possible scenarios mentioned by many analysts is an upcoming the resignation of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, which were ostensibly the Prigozhin targets in his campaign.
‘Neither Shoigu or Gerasimov have been seen anywhere during this entire episode nor have made any public statements, while other top generals have.’ Shoigu is apparently a widely disliked figure in Russian society.
“The recent scandals revolving around [Shoigu’s] daughter have put a bad taste in many peoples’ mouths. His daughter is dating a liberal guy who posts poor-taste photos from Dubai and various glitzy beaches while sometimes implying an anti-Russian bias. I believe he “liked” several pro-Ukrainian posts on social media, and things of that nature. Not to mention that Shoigu’s daughter and wife help run certain things for the Russian MOD and there is perceived nepotism and corruption”
This story originally appeared on TheGateWayPundit
