Russian President Vladimir Putin has given his own account of a June 29 meeting with Wagner mutineer Yevgeny Prigozhin and his men in the Kremlin after the paramilitary group’s aborted mutiny, claiming he gave the fighters an opportunity to continue fighting in Ukraine.
Speaking to a reporter from Russia’s state-controlled Kommersant newspaper on Thursday, Putin said 35 Wagner fighters accompanied Prigozhin to the three-hour meeting in the Kremlin last month. The Russian president said he offered Wagner troops several options, including continuing to operate under the command of someone he identified by the call sign “Sedoy,” meaning “Gray-haired,” whom they had served under for 16 months.
“All of them could have gathered in one place and continued to serve,” Putin said, “and nothing would have changed for them. They would have been led by the same person who has been their real commander all this time.”
“Many people nodded when I said that,” Putin continued, “and Prigozhin, who was sitting at the front and didn’t see this, said after hearing me out: ‘No, the guys do not agree with this decision.’”
Putin also attempted to play down the actions of the Wagner fighters who, under Prigozhin’s command, marched on Moscow on June 24, taking control of Russian territory and seeking the resignations of the president’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
“Everything is very simple and obvious to Russian society. The ordinary Wagner fighters fought honorably, so … the fact that they were dragged into these events is regrettable,” Putin said, according to Kommersant (which provided the incomplete account of his remarks, including the ellipses).
Putin added: “I’ll put it this way, very carefully … On the one hand, at the meeting with them I gave an assessment of what they had done on the battlefield, and on the other hand, of what they had done during the events of June 24. Thirdly, I showed them possible options for their further service, including in combat. That’s it.”
Asked whether the Wagner Private Military Company would remain a fighting unit, Putin seemingly became agitated.
“‘Well, the PMC Wagner does not exist!’ Vladimir Putin exclaimed,” according to Kommersant.
The president continued: “We have no law on private military organizations! It simply does not exist!”
Last month, Shoigu ordered all “volunteer detachments” at the front in Ukraine to sign contracts with the defense ministry by July 1, effectively forcing mercenary groups to either fall into line under the Kremlin, or be deemed illegal. The move was widely seen as a power-grab in response to Prigozhin’s increasing public profile and growing supporter base, with the Wagner leader rejecting the order and subsequently launching his mutiny.
“There is no such legal entity” as PMC Wagner, Putin said Thursday, with Kommersant musing that he was speaking like a lawyer (the Russian president once studied law at university).
Wagner troops have been instrumental to Putin’s war on Ukraine, with the mercenaries used in some of the bloodiest battles, including in Bakhmut. But according to the Pentagon, since the attempted mutiny, Wagner is no longer “participating in any significant capacity in support of combat operations in Ukraine.”
