Russian state media is reporting President Vladimir Putin’s concessions to rebel mercenary leader Yevgeniy Pirozhin in order to halt his advance on Moscow and avoid unnecessary bloodshed.
“According to Russian State Media, Major Changes to the Leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense including changes to the current Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu and Army Chief of General Staff, Valery Gerasimov have reportedly been Agreed upon in order to Stop the March of the Wagner PMC Group towards the Capital of Moscow; these Negotiations have also reportedly included the assured ‘Security of the Wagner Group’,” OSINT defender reported.
“These Negotiations are also reported to have included a ‘Stipulation’ that the Majority of Wagner PMC Forces will be Redeployed out of Russia and Ukraine to Africa,” he added.
The reported concessions followed a brokered deal involving Progozhin, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, and Russian President Putin.
Prigozhin earlier announced on Saturday that he is standing down, adding that he ‘doesn’t want to spill Russian blood,’ and the Wagner convoys were retreating back to their bases.
“They were going to dismantle PMC Wagner,” he said in an audio statement on Telegram. “We came out on 23 June to the March of Justice. In a day, we walked to nearly 200km away from Moscow. In this time, we did not spill a single drop of blood of our fighters. Now, the moment has come when blood may spill. That’s why, understanding the responsibility for spilling Russian blood on one of the sides, we are turning back our convoys and going back to field camps according to the plan.”
The announcement follows a statement from the office of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, claiming that he had reached an agreement with Prigozhin after discussing the issue with Putin previously.
“This morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin briefed his Belarusian counterpart on the situation in southern Russia with the private military company Wagner. The heads of state agreed on joint actions,” wrote the Belarusian leader’s office in a press release.
The release went on to say that Lukashenko had a dialogue with Prigozhin and his forces in conjunction with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Negotiations continued throughout the day. As a result, they came to agreements on the inadmissibility of unleashing a bloody massacre on the territory of Russia. Yevgeny Prigozhin accepted the proposal of President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to stop the movement of armed persons of the Wagner company in Russia and take further steps to de-escalate tensions,” the statement continued.
“At the moment, on the table is an absolutely profitable and acceptable option for solving the situation, with security guarantees for the Wagner PMC fighters.”
The proposed settlement reportedly includes security guarantees for the Wagner troops, although no details were provided at the time.
The reported concessions add complexity to one of the most surreal episodes in the Russia-Ukraine war. The deal grants Pirozhin his stated objectives, while keeping the Russian military forces from further schism at a time when Ukraine is expected to mount a counter-offensive on the warfront into the Donbass and Donetsk regions.
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