Global Courant
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary army, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was warned yesterday of possible assassinations after reaching a surprise amnesty deal with the Kremlin, following the sensational attempted rebellion against the Kremlin at the weekend.
After clashes with Russian regular army forces on their way to Moscow, Prigozhin reportedly ordered the march halted after he said an agreement had been reached “to prevent bloodshed”.
Under the terms of the deal, Prigozhin will leave for Belarus and not be prosecuted, but he will not lead the powerful Wagner military group.
But despite the agreement, a former director of the CIA said yesterday that the military “must be careful when standing in open windows”, referring to possible assassination attempts.
Former CIA chief David Petraeus told CNN that Russians who have died in unclear circumstances such as falling from windows had similar power struggles.
“Prigozhin saved his life but lost the Wagner group. Now he has to be careful when he stands near open windows in Belarus,” Petraeus said.
Today, Moscow also broadcast images of Wagner’s main antagonist, Russia’s current defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, inspecting the troops, perhaps to recover the army’s shape from the turmoil caused by the attempted military coup.
Shoigu’s appearances seem to be Putin’s message that he will not fire the interior minister, despite the accusations and the request of the powerful former head of Wagner.
In a video posted online, a group of prisoners condemned Prigozhin’s decision to withdraw as his troops could now face retaliation from the Kremlin’s military.
According to reports, some punishments against Prigozhin’s troops have started, as according to Radio Liberty, Russian publicist Mikhail Serenko was detained in Volgograd yesterday on suspicion of aiding Prigozhin’s rebellion.
While Putin’s allies demanded that Prigozhin be given “a bullet to the head”.
Russian MP, former general Andrey Gurulev said that both the head of Wagner and the second in command of the mercenary army Dmitry Uktin should receive the same sentence.
“A bullet in the forehead would be enough for the people of the Saturday coup, that would be the only salvation Prigozhin, and Utkin,” he said.
The 68-year-old Shoigu was accused by Prigozhin of not mentioning Wagner’s military achievements to the government and taking credit for the advances in Ukraine.
Despite his appearance in tearful control of military troops, rumors in Moscow say that Putin is preparing the governor of Tula, Alexei Dyumin, as the new minister of defense, writes the British network Daily Mail.
Russian security agencies reported today that the situation in the country is calm and the anti-terror regime has been reduced after the advance of Wagner troops towards Moscow.
The criminal investigation against Prigozhin remains open, Russian media reported.
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