"Putin Meets Prigozhin Five Days After Rebellion... Confirms Support" (Summary)

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group mercenary company that launched an armed rebellion, on the 29th of last month (local time), the Kremlin announced on the 10th. This was five days after Prigozhin halted the rebellion on the condition of cancellation of punishment and asylum in Belarus.

According to major foreign media, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, revealed this fact during a phone briefing with reporters on the same day, stating, "President Putin invited 35 people, including the Wagner Group commanders, to the Kremlin on the 29th of last month and held a three-hour meeting." He added, "President Putin expressed his assessment of the incident at that time and also listened to the explanations of the Wagner commanders regarding the same incident."

He emphasized, "The Wagner commanders told President Putin that they are his supporters and that the soldiers will continue to fight for the president."

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia [Image source=Yonhap News]

Prigozhin launched an armed rebellion on the 23rd-24th of last month, claiming that the Russian Ministry of Defense and military leadership had attacked them, and seized military facilities in the Rostov region in southwestern Russia. After traveling nearly 1,000 km in one day, they approached Moscow, but Prigozhin halted the rebellion on the condition of cancellation of punishment and relocation to Belarus through negotiations with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

On the 26th of last month, Prigozhin stated, "This was not an attempt to overthrow the Russian government," and explained his position by saying, "The goal of the 'March of Justice' was to hold accountable those who made mistakes during the special military operation."

However, Prigozhin's whereabouts have been unclear since then. Although it was reported that he arrived in Belarus on the 27th of last month, President Lukashenko stated on the 6th of this month that Prigozhin is staying in Russia, either in Saint Petersburg or Moscow.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.