MINSK, June 27. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he suggested to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to hold off on delivering a harsh retribution to the private military company Wagner when they spoke on June 24.
"I also understood this: A harsh decision had been made. It was implied as a subtext in Putin’s speech - to rub them out. I suggested to Putin to not rush it. I said, let’s talk to [PMC Wagner’s founder Yevgeny] Prigozhin, to his commanders. To this, he told me, "Listen, Sasha, it will be no use. He (Prigozhin - TASS) doesn’t even answer the phone. He doesn’t want to talk to anyone," Lukashenko said, the BelTA news agency reported. Sasha is short for Alexander.
On the evening of June 23, Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Telegram that his units had been attacked, putting the blame for that on the country’s military leadership. The Defense Ministry said the allegations were false. Wagner units that backed Prigozhin started marching on Rostov-on-Don, a city in southern Russia, and on Moscow. The Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, started a criminal investigation into a call for an armed mutiny.
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the nation, describing the PMC Wagner’s actions as treason.
Lukashenko, in coordination with Putin, then held talks with Prigozhin, following which PMC Wagner turned back its troops and moved them to their field camps. The Kremlin said that PMC Wagner fighters would not be prosecuted, given their combat merits. The investigation into the armed mutiny was dropped.