Belarus announced the arrival on Tuesday of the boss of the paramilitary group Wagner, Evgueni Prigojine, as part of an agreement that ended his rebellion in Russia where Vladimir Putin rejoiced to have avoided a “civil war”.
If the shock wave of the revolt led by the men of this ex-ally of Mr. Putin remains to be measured, the Kremlin has already denied that the Russian president emerged weakened from this crisis, yet the worst in addition two decades of reign.
According to Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, Mr Prigozhin has arrived or is about to arrive in Belarus: “Prigozhin is already traveling by plane. Yes, indeed, he is in Belarus today,” he said in an ambiguous statement reported by the official Belta news agency.
Belarusian media reported that a private jet belonging to Mr Prigozhin landed in Minsk on Tuesday morning.
The tempestuous boss of Wagner had evaporated since announcing the end of his rebellion on Saturday evening, after 24 hours of chaos which saw his men seize military bases and march on Moscow, before suddenly turning around. .
Vladimir Putin, who is now seeking to overcome this serious crisis, on Tuesday thanked the soldiers who, according to him, prevented a “civil war” from occurring.
“You opposed these troubles, the result of which would inevitably have been chaos,” Mr. Putin greeted during a ceremony inside the Kremlin.
Seriously, with his head bowed, the Russian president then observed a minute of silence in tribute to army pilots killed by the mutineers while they “did their duty with honor”.
Disarm Wagner
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defence, a pet peeve of the Wagner group, had announced that “preparations [étaient] in progress for the transfer of heavy military equipment from Wagner to active units of the regular armed forces.
Such a measure seems intended to neutralize the Wagner group, a paramilitary organization which was previously responsible for carrying out the dirty works of the Kremlin in Ukraine, Syria and several African countries.
While Russian authorities once denied any connection to Wagner, Putin said on Tuesday that the state had “completely funded” this private army, paying it nearly a billion euros over the past year.
On Monday evening, the Russian president angrily denounced a “treason” by Mr. Prigojine, while ensuring that members of Wagner could join the regular army or go to Belarus, whose leader served as a mediator to stop the crisis. .
Implicitly criticizing Mr Putin, Mr Lukashenko said the rebellion was the result of mismanagement of rivalries between Wagner and the Russian military that have grown steadily since the start of the conflict in Ukraine. “The situation escaped us,” he noted.
The Belarusian leader also assured that he had advised Mr. Putin not to “kill” Mr. Prigojine, and considered that Belarus could benefit from the “experience” of Wagner’s fighters who will come to take refuge there.
Several Western leaders and analysts believe that Mr. Putin emerges greatly weakened from this crisis.
With his offensive against Ukraine, “Putin is also endangering the security of his own country”, said Tuesday the head of German diplomacy Annalena Baerbock.
On the contrary, the rebellion led society to “consolidate around the president”, assured the Kremlin. “The army and the people were not [du] side” of the mutineers, added Mr. Putin.
In an audio message broadcast on Monday, Mr. Prigojine denied having tried to “overthrow power”, claiming only to want to “save” his group which was threatened with being absorbed by the regular army.
Prosecution dropped
In any case, a sign that an agreement seems to have been reached between Mr. Prigojine and the Kremlin, the security services (FSB) announced on Tuesday the abandonment of the proceedings against Wagner for “armed mutiny”.
This leniency, despite the death of an unknown number of army pilots admitted by Mr. Putin, contrasts with the relentless repression aimed at opponents and anonymous people denouncing the military offensive in Ukraine.
For many analysts, the aborted rebellion of the Wagner group has highlighted the weaknesses of Mr. Putin’s regime and his staff in the face of heavily armed men.
Learning lessons, the leader of the Russian National Guard, one of the formations responsible for state security, announced on Tuesday that it would equip itself with tanks.
Some analysts also believe that this crisis could weaken Russian forces in Ukraine and benefit kyiv in its counter-offensive.
On Tuesday, Mr Putin claimed he “did not have to withdraw combat units from the ‘special military operation’ area to redeploy them to Russia during the mutiny.
In addition, while the conflict continues, Pope Francis’ envoy for peace in Ukraine, Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, is due to visit Moscow on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the Vatican.