Russia to transfer Wagner hardware to Army; militia chief Prigozhin arrives in Belarus
The HinduRussia prepared on Tuesday to take possession of heavy military hardware held by Wagner as Moscow moved to bring the mercenary group under its control after its aborted mutiny. “Preparations are underway for the transfer of heavy military equipment from the private military company Wagner to units of the Russian armed forces,” the defence ministry said. Russian President Vladimir Putin told troops gathered Tuesday at the Kremlin they prevented civil war after a revolt by Wagner mercenaries, and held a minute’s silence for pilots killed during the insurrection. “The state paid to the Wagner group 86.262 billion rubles for salaries for fighters and incentive rewards between May 2022 and May 2023 alone,” Mr. Putin said. Meanwhile, Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in Belarus on Tuesday under a deal that ended a brief mutiny against the Russian military by his fighters, state news agency BELTA said, quoting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.