Putin claims Wagner PMC does not legally exist, talks about meeting with Prigozhin

Kommersant, a Russian media outlet, reported the information.

"Well, Wagner PMC does not exist! We don't have a law on private military organizations! It simply does not exist! That is, if there is no law, there is no PMC. There is a group, but it does not legally exist! This is a separate issue related to real legalization. But this is an issue that should be discussed in the State Duma, in the government. It's not an easy question," said Vladimir Putin, Russian leader.

Putin also said that he had held a meeting with 35 Wagner mercenaries. He said that he had assessed Wagner's actions in the war against Ukraine and during the June 24 coup.

After the coup, Putin offered Wagner members several job opportunities. Prigozhin was also present at the meeting.

"All of them could have gathered in one place and continued to serve. And nothing would have changed for them. They would be led by the same person who was their real commander all this time. Many people nodded when I said this, and Prigozhin, who was sitting in front and did not see it, said after listening, ‘No, the guys do not agree with this decision’," the Russian leader said.

Prigozhin's mutiny in Russia

Allegedly, Russian troops launched a missile attack on the Wagner base. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner PMC, announced a "march of justice" and stated that 25,000 mercenaries were heading to Moscow after the Russian leadership refused to hand over Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

On June 24, Wagner’s fighters took control of Rostov-on-Don, where they initially gathered around the headquarters of the Southern Military District, and then entered the city of Voronezh. Their convoys, which had diverted from the Ukrainian border, were moving towards Moscow. Military aircraft and artillery under Shoigu's control attempted to stop them. The units of Wagner PMC were last spotted in the Lipetsk region. In Moscow itself, defensive positions were established, trenches were dug, and all security forces were mobilized.

However, on the evening of June 24, the press service of the self-proclaimed President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, released a statement in which the head of the Wagner PMC stated that he was ready to stop the advance of his mercenaries' military convoys, which were already approaching Moscow, and to reach an agreement with the Kremlin. Prigozhin allegedly agreed on this during a conversation with Lukashenko.

Instead, Prigozhin announced that the Wagner group had stopped their advance and returned to their field camps before reaching 200 km from Moscow. Russian leader Vladimir Putin promised that Prigozhin would be able to go to Belarus, and Russia would close the criminal case against him.

On June 26, Putin gave a speech in which he offered the Wagner PMC fighters three options for future actions: join the Russian Defense Forces, go to Belarus with other PMC members, or return to their families.

On June 27, the Federal Security Service of Russia announced that it dropped the criminal case related to the armed plot, in which Wagner PMC leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was involved. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that Wagner mercenaries would hand over heavy equipment to the regular Russian army.

On the same day, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus confirmed the arrival of Yevgeny Prigozhin in the country. According to him, the Wagner mercenaries who arrived with him would not guard the Russian tactical nuclear weapons stationed there.

On July 3, Russian media outlets released photographs taken by local residents, showing an alleged Wagner Group camp in the Mogilev region of Belarus. Ukrainian intelligence reported that it was unlikely for Prigozhin to relocate all the fighters to Belarus and suggested that he would not permanently stay there. It is evident that only a portion of the Wagner Group members would be transferred to Belarus.

On July 6, Lukashenko said that Wagner mercenaries were in their field camps, while the company's founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was in Russia.

On July 10, Russian president’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that 5 days after the mutiny, Putin met with Prigozhin in the Kremlin.

During the mutiny in Russia, some of the Wagner mercenaries reached the Voronezh-45 base, a storage site for Russian nuclear weapons, according to Ukrainian intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov.