Lukashenko said some of the Wagner fighters are now in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine that Russia illegally annexed last September. Prigozhin's escape from prosecution, at least on a armed rebellion charge, is in stark contrast to Moscow's treatment of its critics, including those staging anti-government protests in Russia, where many opposition figures have been punished with long sentences in notoriously harsh penal colonies. The charge of mounting an armed mutiny could have been punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Prigozhin and his fighters stopped the revolt on Saturday, less than 24 hours after it began and shortly after Putin spoke on national TV, branding the rebellion leaders, whom he did not name, as traitors. He said the money was intended to pay soldiers' families. Petersburg office on Saturday said they found 4 billion rubles ($48 million) in trucks outside, according to media reports the Wagner boss confirmed. "I hope that while doing so they didn't steal anything, or stole not so much," Putin said, adding that authorities would look closely at Concord's contract.įor years, Prigozhin has enjoyed lucrative catering contracts with the Russian government. Putin told a military gathering that Prigozhin's Concord Group earned 80 billion rubles ($941 million) from a contract to provide the military with food, and that Wagner had received over 86 billion rubles (over $1 billion) in the past year for wages and additional items. Still, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to set the stage for financial wrongdoing charges against an affiliated organization Prigozhin owns. Russian authorities also said Tuesday they have closed a criminal investigation into the uprising and are pressing no armed rebellion charge against Prigozhin or his followers. Complete coverage of the war in Ukraine.Get the CTV News App now for breaking news alerts and all the top stories.Prigozhin had said such moves were planned ahead of a July 1 deadline for his fighters to sign contracts - which he opposed - to serve under Russia's military command. Meanwhile, Moscow said preparations were underway for Wagner's troops fighting in Ukraine, who numbered 25,000 according to Prigozhin, to hand over their heavy weapons to Russia's military. And on Tuesday morning, a private jet believed to belong to him flew from Rostov to an airbase southwest of the Belarusian capital of Minsk, according to data from FlightRadar24. He issued a defiant audio statement on Monday. Prigozhin has not been seen since Saturday, when he waved to well-wishers from a vehicle in the southern city of Rostov. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed Prigozhin was in Belarus, and said he and some of his troops were welcome to stay "for some time" at their own expense. The exile of the 62-year-old owner of the Wagner Group was part of a deal that ended the short-lived mutiny in Russia. Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the private army of prison recruits and other mercenaries who have fought some of the deadliest battles in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, escaped prosecution for his abortive armed rebellion against the Kremlin and arrived Tuesday in Belarus.
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