Russian Authorities Drop Charges Against Wagner Group Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin

On Monday,?Prigozhin, in the first public comment since ending his revolt, defended his mutiny and said the society demanded it.

Outlook Web Desk

Updated on: 27 June 2023 9:01 am

Russian private army Wagner Groups chief Yevgeny Prigozhin

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) on Tuesday announced that it has dropped charges and closed a criminal probe into the armed rebellion led by mercenary chief and head of Wagner Group?Yevgeny Prigozhin. The service said its investigation found that those involved in the mutiny “ceased activities directed at committing the crime.”?

With that and other “relevant circumstances,” the agency closed the case?— in line with the promises the Kremlin gave over the weekend not to prosecute Prigozhin and his fighters after he stopped the revolt.

Meanwhile, the whereabouts and fate of the Russian mercenary leader remain a mystery.

On Monday,?Prigozhin, in the first public comment since ending his revolt, defended his mutiny and said the society demanded it.?Prigozhin said that it was not a coup but a march against "injustice".

Last week, Prigozhin released a series of statements and started?his armed rebellion that would go on to become the most serious blow to the authority of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has run Russia for over two decades. The mercenary chief captured two key Russian cities and the Russian military headquarters at Rostov-on-Don that oversees the Russian war efforts in Ukraine.

His private military reached within 200 kms before he ordered it to halt late Saturday.