Putin: Russia pays approximately $1 billion to Wagner Group annually | Belarus | Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with representatives from powerful departments involved in quelling the Wagner incident on the 27th, thanking them for "containing the civil war.". He also disclosed that the Russian government has paid over 86 billion rubles to Wagner Group in the past year.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who mediated the incident, welcomed the entry of the Wagner Group, saying that this private military enterprise will bring practical experience to Belarus.

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On the same day, Putin met with approximately 2500 representatives from powerful departments such as the Ministry of Defense, Federal Security Agency, National Guard, and Ministry of Internal Affairs who participated in the suppression of the rebellion at the Church Square in the Kremlin. He delivered a live television speech thanking them for their bravery, loyalty to their duties, and loyalty to the Russian people.

"You have saved our country from turmoil and effectively contained the civil war," Putin said. The rapid and precise deployment of powerful departments has brought the extremely dangerous situation under control, avoiding civilian casualties, and showing the participants of the rebellion that "the military and the people are not on their side.".

Putin and the entire crowd observed a minute of silence for the Russian military crew members who were shot down and killed by the Wagner armed forces in the incident.

Putin said that if the rebellion is not quelled, the "enemy" will exploit chaos. He praised the strong departments for ensuring the reliable operation of the most important command center and strategic facilities, maintaining border security, and ensuring stability in the rear after the incident, so there is no need to be forced to "withdraw some combat units from the special military operation zone" to respond to the rebellion.

On the evening of the 23rd, Yevgeny Prigorn, the founder and commander of the Wagner Group, ordered his armed forces to advance towards Rostov, the capital of Rostov Oblast on the Don River. On the 24th, he announced the bloodless occupation of the headquarters of the Russian Southern Military Region, which is the Special Military Operations Command Center for Ukraine, located there. Prigorn demanded the dismissal of Sergei Shoigu, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, and Valery Grasimov, the Chief of General Staff of the Russian Army. Wagner's convoy was moving rapidly towards Moscow.

On the evening of the 24th, Prigorn accepted mediation from Belarusian President Lukashenko and agreed to avoid bloodshed. The Kremlin guaranteed that Prigorn could go to Belarus and revoked his criminal record. The Wagner convoy turned around and returned to the field camp, while the relevant armed personnel evacuated Rostov on the Don River. This crisis was ultimately resolved within less than 24 hours.

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Putin said in his speech that the salaries of the entire Wagner Group are fully guaranteed by the state, with funds coming from the Ministry of Defense and the national budget. Only from May 2022 to May 2023, the government paid 86.262 billion rubles to Wagner Group for salary and bonus payments.

According to Russian media reports, Wagner's members mainly come from Russian veterans and were later recruited from detainees, including severe offenders. This quasi military organization played an important role in the special military operation against Ukraine, especially in the 10 month battle to capture the transportation hub of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.

According to Putin, although Wagner's funds come from state financial appropriations, Prigorn, as the owner of this private military enterprise, has made a fortune from military related business. Over the past year, he has earned 80 billion rubles by supplying food and catering services to the military.

Putin said law enforcement agencies will investigate where the money paid to Wagner Group and Prigoren went.

Prigoren has repeatedly accused the military of competing with the Wagner group for credit and withholding ammunition supplies from the Wagner armed forces, criticizing the Russian regular army's ineffective operations in Ukraine, and pointing the finger directly at Shoigu and Grasimov. According to him, the Wagner convoy was marching towards Moscow to protest, not to overthrow the federal government.

Putin said in his speech on the 27th that special military operations should be carried out under the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Shao Yigu attended the reception that day.

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Belarusian President Lukashenko confirmed on the 27th that Prigo arrived in Belarus on the day of his inauguration.

Belarusian news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying that Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khlenin told him that he hoped Wagner armed personnel would join the Belarusian armed forces and had no objections to a unit like Wagner in the Belarusian military. Lukashenko said, "I agree. Go talk to them."

Lukashenko earlier said that Belarus hopes to learn practical experience from the Wagner Group.

"If their commander comes to our place to help us... tell us what's important now... that would be very useful. That's what we need to learn from Wagner," Lukashenko added. Belarus doesn't need to worry about the existence of the Wagner Group. "We will closely monitor them."

According to the agreement mediated by Lukashenko, the Russian government allows Wagner armed personnel to either join the Russian regular army, choose to return home, or follow Prigoren to Belarus. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated on the 27th that preparations for the transfer of heavy military equipment from the Wagner Group to the Russian military are underway.

Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian President, said that Putin highly praised Lukashenko's efforts to mediate the Wagner incident.

Earlier that day, Lukashenko told Belarusian official media that no one was a hero in this attempted rebellion.

In his view, the Wagner Group had long been at odds with the Russian military. "We didn't handle this situation in a timely manner. We thought the conflict would resolve automatically, but in reality, it wouldn't..."

Putin: Russia's powerful department has contained a civil war

On the same day, Putin met with representatives from the Russian Ministry of Defense, Federal Security Agency, National Guard, and Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow and said that the rapid and precise deployment of powerful departments prevented the domestic situation from developing in a dangerous direction and avoided civilian casualties. The personnel of these departments defended the lives, safety, and freedom of the Russian people, saved the country from turmoil, and truly contained a civil war.

He said that personnel from powerful departments such as the military have demonstrated loyalty and responsibility to the country. Their determination and courage, as well as the unity of the entire Russian society, have played a significant and decisive role in stabilizing the situation.