Membes of the Wagner Group military company sit atop of a tank on a street in Rostov-on-Don. He further said the fighters were asked to leave Ukraine, as commanded by boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, unaware of where they are heading. Wagner troops pulled out of Rostov-on-Don and the Kremlin said criminal charges against Prigozhin would be dropped, with the Wagner leader agreeing to relocate his private army to Belarus.Wagner mercenaries crossed the border and entered Russia without any resistance during the armed mutiny, and if any, they were saluted instead by the traffic police on the way, a junior commander of the mercenary group said, as quoted by BBC. The march was eventually called off after a settlement between the two sides. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the move an armed rebellion and threatened retribution. The group had earlier seized the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, a key military and logistics hub for the Russian army. Prigozhin called for a "march for justice" against senior figures in Russia's military in Moscow, leading thousands of Wagner mercenaries towards the capital. Mercenaries from the Wagner Group had previously led the Kremlin's efforts to capture the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut where fighting between Ukraine and Russia raged for months, with reports of high casualties on both sides. Tensions between the Russian army and Wagner mercenaries had been building for months, with Prigozhin a vocal critic of Russia's efforts in Ukraine. Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed Russian soldiers bombed his Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine. When asked why he doesn't leave Wagner to secure his future, Gleb simply said: "My contract hasn't expired yet." The so-called Luhansk People's Republic, pro-Russian separatist militants, who are housing the group now awaits news of their future, particularly what will happen to the weapons and ammunition. Although Gleb says their future now remains unclear, having been told to stay in their barracks. They also discovered Wagner fighters would not face action for their role in the mutiny. It was on the way back they learned Prigozhin could face criminal charges - which were subsequently dropped - and had fled to Belarus. In the evening of June 24, Gleb said they received a message to return back to their base. Several ex-fighters reportedly told the BBC they would be killed if they spoke out. Gleb says this was "the cons," a reference to the number of prisoners hired to help the conflict with Ukraine.įor the established members of Wagner, he says the rules are more strict. Instead he says, they learnt the latest updates from their leaders via Telegram.Īs the uprising went on, pictures broadcast across the globe showed the fighters chatting to smiling families living in Rostov. Gleb however says fighters were unsure what Prigozihn intended to do. Led by rarely seen Wagner founder Dmitry Utkin, the group were on the move. Gleb says another column of Wagner fighters were marching on through Russia as discussions went on. There he demanded Russia hand over the Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. As fighters were advancing, Prigozhin was reportedly at the Russian army's Southern Military District headquarters meeting high-ranking military officials.
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