Civil war in Russia appears to have been avoided as the Wagner private military company has canceled its march on Moscow following successful negotiations between Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Prigozhin announced his convoy would return to its camps in Ukraine and rejoin the war effort following negotiations between Belarus, the private military company, and Russia. Prior, he announced Wagner intended to mount an apparent coup to drive out Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and ostensibly the Putin government.
Wagner has long held a public feud with the Kremlin, claiming at various points that the Ministry of Defense is refusing to supply adequate munitions and most recently claiming Russia is killing civilians in Ukraine and sending Russians to their death with poor strategy or equipment.
Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the apparent coup attempt by Wagner.
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) June 24, 2023
“This morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin briefed his Belarusian counterpart on the situation in southern Russia with the private military company Wagner,” Belarus claimed this afternoon in a media statement . “The heads of state agreed on joint actions.”
“As a follow-up to the agreements, the President of Belarus, having being additionally informed on the situation through his own channels, and in agreement with the President of Russia, held talks with the head of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin, Yevgeny Prigozhin accepted the proposal of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to stop the movement of armed persons of the Wagner company on the territory of Russia and take further steps to de-escalate tensions.”
No specifics of the deal have been released publicly, but Prigozhin wrote on Telegram that “We turning our columns around and going back in the other direction toward our field camps, in accordance with the plan.”
🚨BREAKING: THE COUP IS OVER | WAGNER’S RETREATING
This official statement from Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group and the leader of this coup, says it all. I don't think anyone expected this:
"They were going to dismantle PMC Wagner. We came out on 23 June to the March… pic.twitter.com/5o1giHjypx
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) June 24, 2023
Many pundits in the West expressed concern that Prigozhin could gain support of the Russian military, potentially giving him control of part of the country’s nuclear arsenal. Simultaneously, many urged Ukraine to seize the internal strife to make gains in its less-than-successful counter offensive.
Indeed, CNN reported that “Ukraine forces launched simultaneous counteroffensives in multiple directions,” claiming unspecified progress against the Russian forces but acknowledging Russian forces are “making great efforts to stop our offensive actions.”
