The fate of key Russian figures linked to an abortive mutiny by the Wagner group remained unclear as officials in Moscow and Kyiv said the powerful mercenary force would no longer take part in the war in Ukraine.
It is not clear how many Wagner fighters will take up an offer from Russian president Vladimir Putin to sign contracts with the country’s regular military, amid sudden intense scrutiny of the group’s financial and other affairs following last Saturday’s brief uprising.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has not been seen in public since he abandoned Wagner’s so-called march of justice towards Moscow and sent its fighters back to base, after they had seized the southern Russian city of Rostov and shot down several military aircraft, reportedly killing 13 crew members.
He published one audio clip in which he insisted that he did not want to topple Mr Putin but only to protest over how defence minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov were running Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that Mr Prigozhin had arrived in his country, and plane-tracking websites have spotted two jets with links to the warlord at an airfield there, but no footage or photographs of him have emerged.
“A few days before the attempted mutiny, the defence ministry said that all formations performing combat tasks must sign contracts with the defence ministry,” said Col Gen Andrei Kartapolov, who chairs the defence committee in the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament.
“Everyone began to carry out this decision… except Mr Prigozhin. Then he was told that in this case, Wagner would not take part in the ‘special military operation’. In other words, there will be no funding or supplies,” he added, using Russia’s official term for an invasion that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.
Col Gen Kartapolov said of Mr Prigozhin and the Wagner mutiny: “It came down to this: in the first place there was money; second, some stupid and overweening ambitions; and thirdly, an agitated state of mind. All of this, in combination, developed into an attempt at high treason and deception of his comrades-in-arms.”
Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov also said Wagner was finished in the war after a revolt that “compromised” the Kremlin and “destroyed the myth of the stability of the Russian regime”.
“Moreover, Wagner will no longer participate in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine. And this is the most effective Russian unit, which was able to achieve success at any cost,” he added.
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The whereabouts of Gen Sergei Surovikin, deputy commander of Russia’s invasion force in Ukraine, are also a mystery, amid numerous reports that he is under suspicion of having failed to act despite knowing about the Wagner rebellion.
When Mr Prigozhin repeatedly lambasted the work of Mr Shoigu and Gen Gerasimov, he often lavished praise on Gen Surovikin and said he should be running Russia’s campaign in Ukraine.
Gen Surovikin – dubbed “General Armageddon” for his brutal leadership of Russian forces in Syria – made a video on Saturday urging Mr Prigozhin and Wagner to back down, but its staged feel led some to compare it to a hostage video.
Citing unnamed sources, several Russian and western news outlets say Gen Surovikin has been interrogated over his possible role in the revolt, with some reports saying he is being held by the FSB security services and others saying that he was questioned and released.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday he could not answer any questions about Gen Surovikin and told reporters to speak to the defence ministry, which has not commented.
