ALBAWABA - In an official statement, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Wagner paramilitary group is completing the transfer of weapons, military equipment, and ammunition to the armed forces.
In a press briefing, Russian military spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that the paramilitary group has already handed over more than 2,000 pieces of military equipment, 20,000 small arms, and 2.5 tons of ammunition.
"Among the transferred equipment, dozens of units have never been used in combat conditions," Konashenkov said.
Wagner's deal with Putin
The handover follows a compromise made with President Vladimir Putin in which Wagner and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, agreed to call it quits off their brief rebellion last month. Prigozhin had publicly criticized Russian defense authorities for their handling of the war.
The deal included that in exchange for putting an end to the rebellion, Wagner's leader Prigozhin and his soldiers will not be legally pursued and will have to be exiled to Belarus.
However, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said last week that Wagner soldiers remained in their camps and Prigozhin was still in Russia.
The Kremlin said on Monday that Prigozhin and 34 of his top officers met President Vladimir Putin on June 29, five days after the rebellion. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wagner’s commanders pledged loyalty to Putin and that they were ready “to continue to fight for the Motherland”, AlJazeera reported.
Wagner group forces took control of a military position in Voronezh city during a rebellion on June 24th, after their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, accused the Russian Defense Ministry of attacking the group’s fighters, declaring a "March of Justice" and setting off toward Moscow. As a result, all public events in and around Moscow were canceled, as tensions remained high at all times.
