Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin to avoid charges, instead face exile in sweetheart deal

Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his mercenary fighting force will not face charges and will instead be exiled despite leading an armed insurrection against Moscow Saturday, the Kremlin said.

The criminal case against Prigozhin will be dropped and the mercenary group leader will go to Belarus instead of facing prosecution in Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said.

Any of Prigozhin’s troops who marched in the rebellion will also avoid charges for their “service” on the front lines of the war in Ukraine, Peskov said.

Instead, they will be given the opportunity to sign contracts to join the Russian military, Russian news outlet TASS reported.

The deal comes after the Wagner Group took control of the southern city of Rostov and began moving towards Moscow in an armed convoy.

The mutiny came after Prigozhin claimed the military had killed his fighters in an air strike, which the Russian Defense Ministry denied.

Prigozhin, whose men fought the bloodiest battles of the 16-month war in Ukraine, including in Bakhmut, also slammed Moscow leadership — namely Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov — who he accused of withholding ammunition from his fighters.

Everything to know about the Wagner Group’s attack on Russia

Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his mercenary fighting force will not face charges and will instead be exiled despite leading an armed insurrection against Moscow Saturday, the Kremlin said.

Prigozhin, owner and founder of the mercenary organization, called for an armed rebellion and threatened to rush Moscow in order to oust the minister who he accused of ordering the bombing of his war camps in Ukraine.

However, Prigozhin eventually agreed to halt the Wagner Group’s advance on Moscow just 120 miles from the capital city after a day-long negation the mercenary leader had with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who was given permission to broker a deal with Progozhin by Vladimir Putin.

Putin’s presidential plane left Moscow early Saturday, sparking rumors that he had fled the Russian capital as the Wagner Group’s mercenary forces advanced on the city.

The president’s aircraft was spotted on flight radar flying northwest from Moscow to the St Petersburg area — but then disappeared from the system near the city of Tver, the BBC reported, where Putin owns a large rural retreat.

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However, Prigozhin eventually agreed to halt the Wagner Group’s advance on Moscow just 120 miles from the capital city after a day-long negation the mercenary leader had with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who was given permission to broker a deal with Progozhin by Vladimir Putin.

Both sides ultimately agreed it was “unacceptable to start a bloodbath in Russia’s territory,” according to a press release from Lukashenko’s administration.

“At present an absolutely advantageous and acceptable variant to defuse the situation is available, including safety guarantees for fighters of the private military company Wagner,” Belarus officials said.

With Post Wires