Russian Defense Ministry May Ink Contracts with Some Wagner PMC Fighters — Kremlin

Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that in the military formations of the Wagner PMC "there were several militants who changed their minds at the very beginning [of the armed rebellion] and immediately returned"

Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov Mikhail Metzel/TASS

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, June 25. /TASS/. A part of the Wagner private military company’s troops, who decided against participating in an armed mutiny, will be able to sign contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

"An agreement was reached that PMC Wagner troops would return to their camps and places of deployment. Some of them, if they wish to do so, can later ink contracts with the Defense Ministry," Peskov said. "It also applies to fighters, who decided against taking part in this ‘armed mutiny.’"

The spokesman also said "there were some fighters in the military formations [of Wagner PMC], who changed their minds at the very beginning [of the armed mutiny] and returned immediately."

"They have even requested the assistance of the traffic police as well as other help to return to their permanent places of deployment," Peskov added.

On the evening of June 23, the Telegram channel of Wagner private military company founder Yevgeny Prigozhin posted several audio records with his statements, in which he claimed that strikes had allegedly been delivered against his formations and accused the country’s military leadership of that. In the wake of this, the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia has opened a criminal case into a call for an armed mutiny. The FSB urged Wagner fighters not to obey Prigozhin’s orders and take measures for his detention.

Russia’s Defense Ministry dismissed as untrue the reports that Russian forces had allegedly delivered a strike against "the rear camps of the Wagner private military company."

In his televised address to citizens on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the actions by the Wagner private military company an armed mutiny and betrayal and assured that harsh measures would be taken against the insurgents.