Putin will decide Prigozhin's fate personally - military expert Stupak

Military expert Ivan Stupak said this on Espreso TV. 

"Now Prigozhin is in Moscow. Searches are underway. The process of de-heroization is underway, and Prigozhin is being erased from history. Photos with his passports, cash, gold bars, and apartments are being posted online. Federal channels are ridiculing him-they are trying to do everything they can to make sure that his rating is no longer there. He is already gone, but they want the last people who have sympathy to turn away from him," he said.

According to Stupak, the issue of Prigozhin has not yet been resolved, as the Russian system has not responded to it.

"Yes, by their standards, he is a traitor, a rebel, but he travels, he constantly appears somewhere, nothing is done against him. I think it's a matter of time - the Kremlin hasn't decided what to do with him yet. There is some fear, because Prigozhin has had results. I think that Putin himself will decide his fate after analyzing the information about Prigozhin's connections. Who knew about the rebellion, who could have informed him. Then Putin will decide something," the expert summarized.

Prigozhin's mutiny in Russia

The conflict between Wagner PMC financier Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian Ministry of Defence continued for several months, but the situation escalated sharply on the evening of 23 June.

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 Saturday, June 24, in addition to Rostov-on-Don, where they initially gathered around the headquarters of the Southern Military District, the Wagner group also took control 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. He stated, "In a day, we covered a long distance, stopping only 200 km away from Moscow. During this time, no blood was shed. However, the moment may come when blood will be spilled. Therefore, taking full responsibility, we are turning our columns around and heading back to the field camps as planned."

Subsequently, Prigozhin and all his fighters left the headquarters of Russia's Southern Military District. 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, Russian media reported that the leader of PMC Wagner remained under investigation in the case of organizing a coup in Russia, despite the Kremlin's statements about closing the case.

On the same day, 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.

Meanwhile, Wagner leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that the main goal of the mutiny was "to prevent the destruction of the Wagner PMC, not to overthrow the government" and called it a "march of justice." He also claimed that the offensive on Moscow had stopped because the mercenaries "did not want to shed much blood."

On June 27, the Federal Security Service of Russia announced the termination of a criminal case on armed rebellion involving the leader of Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

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 Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in the country. According to him, the Wagner fighters who arrived with him will not guard the Russian tactical nuclear weapons deployed there.

The United States believes that the deputy commander of the occupation forces, Sergei Surovikin, knew in advance about the plans of Wagner PMC leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to stage a coup in Russia. The Kremlin reacted to this statement and said that it was just "speculation".

On 29 June, the FT wrote that the commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces and deputy commander of Russian troops in Ukraine, General Sergei Surovikin, could have been arrested after Prigozhin's failed coup. This has been denied in Russia, including by Surovikin's daughter.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said that due to the arrival of Wagner's PMC in Belarus, Ukraine may have to consider a new threat to its northern border and take appropriate measures.

Read more on the events here.