MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. Heavy equipment of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) will be transferred to the Russian armed forces, the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
"Preparations are underway for the transfer of heavy military equipment from the Wagner PMC to the active units of the Russian military," the statement said.
On the evening of June 23, several audio recordings were posted on the Telegram channel of Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) founder Yevgeny Prigozhin. In particular, he claimed that his units had come under attack, blaming the Russian military. The Federal Security Service (FSB) launched a criminal probe into calls for armed mutiny. In turn, the Russian Defense Ministry slammed the Wagner boss’ allegations of a strike on the PMC’s "rear camps" as fake news. The PMC units that supported Prigozhin headed to Rostov-on-Don and then turned toward Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address to the nation on Saturday, described the Wagner group’s actions as armed mutiny and a betrayal, vowing to take tough measures against the mutineers.
Later on Saturday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in coordination with Putin, held talks with Prigozhin, resulting in the PMC standing down, turning its units around, and retreating to their base camps. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a criminal case against the Wagner chief would be dropped, while Prigozhin himself would go to Belarus. In addition, the Russian authorities pledged not to prosecute those Wagner PMC fighters who took part in the mutiny in light of their "frontline achievements.".