It was an armed insurrection by mercenaries who didn’t want to be reformed or to be transferred under the management of the Russian Ministry of Defense, said Romanian expert Armand Goșu, commenting on the recent developments in Russia. According to the professor from Romania, Belarusian dictator Alexandr Lukashenko accepted to broker a deal between Yevgeny Prigozhin and Vladimir Putin so as to please the Kremlin, IPN reports.
On Friday evening, the Wagner fighters led by Yevgeny Prigozhin launched an armed rebellion, heading for Moscow with tanks and armored vehicles. According to the official version formulated by Prigozhin, this way the Wagner mercenaries aimed to stop the Kremlin’s decision to subdue the Wagner Group to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“It was an armed insurrection that wasn’t intended as part of a coup. It was the rebellion of a unit of mercenaries who protested this way against the senior administration’s attempts to reform the group, to disband it, to transfer it under the management of the Ministry of Defense. This is the official variant provided by the head of this paramilitary group Yevgeny Prigozhin. He is the star of this serial who after a pause of 24 hours returned with an astounding message that was as astounding as the message transmission on Saturday evening, when everyone expected that the Wagner column will enter Moscow but Prigozhin came with an audio message announcing that 200 km had left until Moscow, but he ordered his troops to return to their bases in order to avoid bloodshed,” Armand Goșu stated in the program “In Depth” on ProTV Chisinau channel.
According to the Russian press, at least 13 Russian militaries were killed during the operations conducted by the Russian army against the Wagner fighters. On Saturday evening, the rebellion was aborted at a distance of about 200 km from Moscow after Prigozhin ordered a return. Later, the Wagner chief announced that he reached a deal that was brokered by the Belarusian leader Alexandr Lukashenko and will move to Belarus.
“It is not clear who can leave together with Prigozhin to Belarus out of those who remained from the 25,000 Wagner mercenaries. Lukashenko is not interested in Prigozhin and does not want to bring mercenaries to Belarus for these to serve Putin. Lukashenko owes to Putin after the elections of 2020 and the subsequent protests. Belarus didn’t disappear as a state for the simple reason that it is supported by Russia. Billions of dollars from oil reach the budget of the Republic of Belarus owing to Putin’s benevolence. It’s normal for an individual like Lukashenko to raise his hand to the cap whenever the master from the Kremlin needs. Lukashenko likes playing the role of mediator. He mediates between Ukraine, the separatists and the Russians and also mediates in an internal competition between Prigozhin and Putin,” stated the Romanian expert.
On Monday, the Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the Wagner mercenaries to join the Russian army or to go to Belarus. He also said that any attempt to stage a rebellion or to blackmail will fail in Russia. In his address, Putin expressed his conviction that most of the Wagner fighters are patriots, but they were used for evil purposes.
