Russia To Seize Wagner Group Equipment and Deliver to Putin's Forces

Wagner Group mercenary forces will hand over their military equipment to Russia's armed forces following the mutiny that shook Moscow over the weekend, Russia's Defense Ministry has said.

"Preparations are underway for the transfer of 'Wagner' PMC [private military company] heavy military equipment to the active units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation," the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The brief statement did not specify what military equipment would be transferred nor when the exchange would be completed.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry via email for comment.

According to Dutch open-source outlet, Oryx, Wagner fighters lost five military vehicles in the uprising while Russian forces lost six helicopters, an aircraft and two vehicles.

On Friday, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, accused Russian military officials of attacking Wagner positions in Ukraine. The private militia has played a crucial role in Moscow's operations in the war-torn country and Prigozhin has spent months locked in a high-profile feud with Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia's top soldier, General Valery Gerasimov.

Prigozhin's followers then seized control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and embarked on a "march for justice" towards Moscow. However, the group's advance abruptly stopped on the road to the capital and the fighters stood down as part of a deal reportedly negotiated by Kremlin-allied nation, Belarus.

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that those who "organized and prepared the military rebellion" would "answer for it."

In an audio clip released on Monday, Prigozhin said his fighters did not "march to overthrow Russia's leadership" but to "avoid [the] destruction of Wagner."

However, in an address, also released on Monday, Putin said those who participated in the rebellion had betrayed Russia and its people.

"They lied to them, pushed them to death, under fire, to shoot at their own," the Russian leader said, according to a Kremlin readout of his address.

But the "overwhelming majority" of those who were involved "are also Russian patriots, devoted to their people and state," Putin said.

"From the very beginning of the events, all the necessary decisions were immediately taken to neutralize the threat that had arisen," the Kremlin leader added.

On Tuesday, Russian state media reported that the FSB, Russia's federal security service, had closed its criminal investigation into the uprising.

The Russian Defense Ministry has previously said "volunteer formations" would need to sign contracts with the Russian government by July 1, sanctioned by Shoigu. Prigozhin has publicly resisted this.

In his speech, Putin said Wagner fighters could sign a contract with the government or other law enforcement and military institutions, or "go back to your family and close ones." The other option was to leave for Belarus, Putin said.

Western officials and analysts have argued that the armed revolt has exposed cracks within the Kremlin, weakening Putin's position.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov brushed off these ideas on Tuesday, telling a media briefing that "the level of consolidation in Russia around the president is very high."