Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner mercenary group, has left the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don with his soldiers.
The group’s departure follows a deal brokered by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko under which Prigozhin and his mercenary soldiers will avoid prosecution, and Prigozhin will go into exile in Belarus.
Wagner troops took control of the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District in Rostov on Saturday morning and began to advance towards Moscow in a move President Vladimir Putin described as a betrayal and an act of treason.
Traffic restrictions has remained on the M-4 “Don” major expressway in the Moscow and Tula regions early on Sunday, according to the Federal Road Agency’s statement on the Telegram messaging app.
“According to earlier decisions made in the regions, the restriction of traffic along the M-4 ‘Don’ (highway) in the Tula and Moscow regions remains in place,” the agency said.
Heavily armed Russian mercenaries who had advanced most of the way to Moscow on Saturday then halted their approach, de-escalating a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power, in a move their leader said would avoid bloodshed.
GZERO Media, which is part of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, says that Putin’s supporters and critics will find plenty to ponder in the short-lived Wagner rebellion and the Kremlin’s response.
“No matter how you slice it, the Tsar has taken a hit here,” wrote Russia specialist Alex Kliment.
“One of his men, and a reasonably well-known figure in Russia, led an ‘armed rebellion’ that practically cakewalked to the capital. Putin was clearly reluctant to use force to quash the threat on the spot – perhaps he was wary of turning a populist ultranationalist like Prigozhin into a martyr – and he had to call in Alexander Lukashenko to sort it out. It’s hard to see how any of that leaves Putin looking stronger, more competent, or more secure than he did on Thursday evening.”
Kliment also includes a reminder that Wagner has as many as 50,000 men, while Prigozhin was also behind the troll farms that tried to meddle in the US elections in 2016.
(News Agencies)
