Moment Putin’s Wagner group mercenaries down arms and prepare to be ‘liquidated’ as mystery over ‘purged’ boss deepens
MUTINOUS Wagner mercenaries downed arms and were reportedly preparing to be disbanded today – amid a growing mystery surrounding their “purged” boss.
Footage appeared to show a column of Wagner troops on the move in Russia – 19 days after their aborted march on Moscow.
Pictures showed the convoy of military vehicles heading north along the M4 highway, which leads to the Russian capital.
Due to their Belarusian number plates, a Russian military expert suggested the contract-killers could be heading to encampments in Belarus.
Taking to telegram, Alexander Kots said: “There are buses with Belarusian numbers in the convoy, which may indirectly indicate the destination.”
It comes as despot Vladimir Putin said the mercenary group would be dismantled after the short-lived mutiny.
According to the Guardian, the Wagner group handed thousands of tonnes of weaponry and ammunition to Russia’s regular army.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had received more than 2,000 pieces of equipment, including hundreds of tanks and more than 2,500 tonnes of ammunition.
The exchange followed a deal brokered by dictator Alexander Lukashenko – calling for a truce between Yevgeny Prigozhin and furious Kremlin officials on June 24.
The agreement reportedly led to a halt in the armed mutiny, which threatened an all-out bloodbath in Russia.
As a result, mutinous Prigozhin ordered his forces to turn around and sent them back to a military base near Rostov-on-Don.
Prepared camps now await his forces in Belarus, it was reported.
Prigozhin has visited Belarus several times but is now thought to have been allowed to remain in Russia by Putin even though he was the ringleader of the revolt.
On Wednesday, the Russian defence ministry announced it had taken the huge quantity of arms and ammunition from Wagner as it looked to control the large group of thugs.
The June revolt was seen as aimed at toppling defence minister Sergei Shoigu and his military chief General Valery Gerasimov.
Both officials remain in post.
Prigozhin later released an audio message thanking supporters of the Wagner coup, in which he said was “aimed at fighting traitors and mobilizing our society”.
Prigozhin’s current whereabouts, however, remain unknown.
A former US General believed the Wagner leader was either dead or rotting away in a Russian gulag.
Other insiders believe the warmonger is extremely sick and that his cancer diagnosis may have spurred his decision to launch the coup.