Putin Held a Meeting with Russian Mercenary Leader Following Unsuccessful Mutiny, According to Kremlin

A few days after an unsuccessful insurrection by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his private military forces, Russian President Vladimir Putin convened a meeting with him, the Kremlin spokesperson announced on Monday.

The detailed, three-hour meeting was held at the Kremlin on June 29 and included commanders from Prigozhin’s military company, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Wagner mercenaries have been engaged in combat alongside Russian forces in Ukraine. Prigozhin has a long-standing conflict with Russia’s leading military officials. This tension reached a boiling point on June 24 when Prigozhin initiated an armed revolt, leading his fighters into Russia.

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After negotiations, Prigozhin ceased the insurrection and agreed to exile in Belarus.

The revelation of a direct meeting with Putin, who had labeled Prigozhin a treacherous betrayer, introduces an unexpected development in the ongoing uncertainty regarding the mercenary leader, whose current status and location have been unclear since the failed insurrection. The revolt significantly undermined Putin’s authority.

During the June 29 meeting, Putin presented an evaluation of Wagner’s military actions in Ukraine and the events of June 24, Peskov shared. The president also heard the commanders’ justifications and offered them potential future roles and uses in battle, according to the Kremlin spokesperson.

“The commanders provided their interpretation of the events. They emphasized their unwavering support for the head of state and their readiness to continue to defend their nation,” Peskov added.

A total of 35 individuals attended the meeting, including Wagner commanders and the leadership of the company, with Prigozhin himself included, as per Peskov.

Also on Monday, a video featuring Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the country’s military chief, was released by Russia’s Defense Ministry — the first appearance of Gerasimov since the attempt to remove him.

Prigozhin had repeatedly criticized Gerasimov, who is the chief of the Russian armed forces’ general staff, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for their failure to supply ammunition to his forces in Ukraine during the revolt last month.

These updates on Monday seem to be Moscow’s attempt to manage the narrative following a period of unrest.

In related news, a Russian airstrike on a school in southern Ukraine resulted in the death of four adults who were present to receive humanitarian aid, according to the governor of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. He described the incident as “a war crime.”

The victims of Sunday’s strike in the town of Orikhiv included three women and one man, all in their 40s, stated Gov. Yuriy Malashko. The attack caused by a guided aerial bomb injured eleven other people and resulted in an explosion at the school, although Malashko did not provide any evidence.

On the whole, Russia targeted ten settlements in the province within one day, he said.

Despite multiple allegations of targeting civilians and committing other war crimes since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia continues to deny such accusations.

In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, alleging his personal involvement in the abductions of children from Ukraine.

Extensive investigations are currently ongoing in Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, based in The Hague, is assisting with these investigations.

The Zaporizhzhia region houses Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, seized by Russian forces early in the war, and is one of the four regions of Ukraine that Putin annexed unlawfully last year. The recapture of the region is a primary objective of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Between Sunday and Monday, Russian air attacks continued across Ukraine, according to a summary from the Ukrainian presidential office.

In the Donetsk region, Russian forces used aircraft, missile systems, and heavy artillery to shell residential areas of six cities and villages, injuring one person, the office reported.

In the Kherson region, residential areas were attacked by the Russian army, injuring a 66-year-old woman, the presidential office stated.

Keep up with AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://bigbignews.net/russia-ukraine

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