Vladimir Putin: President Putin met with the head of the Wagner Group, confirmed by the Kremlin; Know what happened so far

Posted on 11th Jul 2023 by rohit kumar

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. The Kremlin has confirmed this. Recently, Prigozhin announced a rebellion against Putin. However, an agreement was reached between the two after a day and a half through the mediation of Belarus. This is the first meeting between the two since then.

 

How did the confrontation between Putin and Prigozhin begin?

In the past months, Prigozhin has repeatedly accused Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of deliberately under-supplying his troops stationed in Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry then said that volunteer fighters in Ukraine must sign contracts with them by the end of June. However, the ministry did not name the Wagner Group in the announcement. But the move was seen as an attempt to control the Wagner group. After this, Prigozhin declared in a statement indignant that his fighters would boycott this contract.

 

What did the Wagner group accuse Putin of?

Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, said that his troops had attacked the Russian planes. He claimed that Russian aircraft were attacking his troops with rockets and bombs moving towards Moscow, to stop them. He expressed regret that he had to shoot down the Russian planes.

 

Took control of Rostov-on-Don within 24 hours

On 24 June, within twenty-four hours of declaring an uprising against Putin, fighters from the Wagner group had taken complete control of the entire Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. After this, they started sending heavily armed squads from there to the north, shot down a Russian army plane along the way, and stopped about two kilometers from the capital Moscow. This was the biggest challenge before Putin amid the war with Ukraine. However, Prigozhin claimed that he was not mutinying. This incident brought Russia very close to civil war.

 

what did Putin say about the rebellion?

Following the Wagner Group mutiny, Putin immediately declared in a televised address that the mutiny was a criminal act, a grave crime, it was treason, blackmail, and terrorism. However, a few hours later, as part of a settlement, they decided to drop all criminal charges against Prigozhin.

 

What is Wagner Group, how it started, and where it is active

The Wagner Group is officially known as PMC Wagner. Its name first appeared in 2014, when Russia was helping pro-separatists in eastern Ukraine. It was then working as a secret organization. At that time it was active in Africa and the Middle East. It is said that at that time he had five thousand fighters, mostly retired soldiers of Russia's elite regiment and special forces.

 

Now the number of fighters in this mercenary army has increased a lot. Last January, Britain's Ministry of Defense reported that the Wagner group was controlling around 50,000 fighters and was playing a key role for Russia in the Ukraine war. In the same year, the US National Security Council claimed that eighty percent of Wagner fighters were brought from prison. Fighters of the Wagner group are playing a key role in the Ukraine war for Russia. The Wagner group played a major role in the capture of the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

 

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