The latest on the aftermath of the armed uprising launched by Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin:
Russian troops stationed protecting the capital have withdrawn after mercenary troops retreated en route to Moscow.
After calling for an armed uprising to overthrow Russia’s defense minister, mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his fighters appeared to seize control of Russia’s military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, which oversees fighting in Ukraine.
They then advanced largely unhindered towards Moscow. Russian media reported shooting down several helicopters and a military communications plane. The Department of Defense did not comment.
They were only stopped by an agreement to send Prigozhin to neighboring Belarus, which has backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The charges against him for instigating an armed uprising will be dropped, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, and Prigozhin ordered his troops to return to their camps.
Moscow had prepared for the arrival of Wagner’s troops by setting up checkpoints of armored vehicles and troops on the southern outskirts of the city.
There was little sign in Moscow on Sunday that the counter-terrorism alert was rolled out after Prigozhin began his short-lived insurgency, and nominally remained in place.
On a sunny day, crowds poured through the Russian capital’s downtown and sidewalk cafes were packed with customers. Traffic had returned to normal and roadblocks and checkpoints were removed.
The exile of the Russian mercenary leader ends the uprising leaves questions about Putin’s power
The deal with Belarus to take in the leader of the Russian rebellion gets him in trouble more repressive nation
The mercenary chief who called for an uprising against the Russian generals has long ties insert
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A senior Russian diplomat flew to Beijing on Sunday for talks with the Chinese government, a day after a Russian mercenary commander’s uprising fizzled out.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang to discuss “international and regional issues of common interest,” according to a one-line statement from China’s foreign ministry on its website.
Rudenko’s visit comes after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, ordered his troops to march on Moscow before agreeing with the Kremlin on Saturday to go into exile and announce the withdrawal.
China has not officially commented on the crisis in Russia.
Russia and China have maintained close ties throughout Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, which China refused to condemn.
There was little sign in Moscow on Sunday that the counter-terrorism alert was rolled out after Yevgeny Prigozhin began his uprising and remained nominally in effect.
On a sunny day, crowds poured through the Russian capital’s downtown and sidewalk cafes were packed with customers. Traffic had returned to normal and roadblocks and checkpoints were removed.
The “anti-terrorist regime” proclaimed by the authorities in Moscow and the surrounding area made it possible to restrict freedoms and increase security.
Presenters of state-controlled TV channels viewed the deal to end the crisis as a testament to President Vladimir Putin’s wisdom and broadcast footage of Wagner Group troops withdrawing from Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia. People in Rostov-on-Don interviewed by Channel 1 television praised Putin for defusing the crisis.
There are still no reports of the arrival of mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in Belarus after he struck an agreement with the Kremlin to flee into exile and ended his uprising.
Many other questions remained unanswered Sunday morning, including whether Prigozhin would join the exile with troops from his Wagner group and what role, if any, he could play there.
Prigozhin, who sent out a series of audio and video updates during his revolt, has remained silent since the Kremlin announced that a deal had been negotiated allowing him to complete his march towards Moscow and leave Russia.
The US-based think-tank Institute for the Study of War says the Kremlin faces “a profoundly unstable balance” following the agreement of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner group to end the insurgency.
The institute said the optics that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko played a role in stopping a military advance on Moscow was “humiliating” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It said that “the deal negotiated by Lukashenko is a short-term solution, not a long-term solution, and Prigozhin’s rebellion has exposed serious weaknesses” in the Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry. The Kremlin’s apparent surprise at Prigozhin’s rebellion also does not bode well for the FSB, Russia’s domestic intelligence agency, she added.
The ISW noted that Prigozhin “consistently escalated” his rhetoric against the Russian Defense Ministry before beginning his insurgency, “and Putin failed to contain that risk.”