Over the weekend, The Wagner Group, a private army founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, was poised to launch a coup on the Russian military, but it was called off.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced Saturday Prigozhin would be exiled to Russian-aligned Belarus, with any charges against him for the foiled armed revolt being dropped in exchange.
Prigozhin’s revolt began after what he said was a Russian military attack targeting his troops’ camps in Ukraine Friday with gun- and artillery fire and rockets.
He accused Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, of calling for the attacks on his troops after conspiring with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to eliminate the mercenary group.
Russia’s Defense Ministry denied doing so.
The brutal mercenary leader had spent months leading up to the revolt railing against the Russian army leadership.
Prigozhin demanded Shoigu be removed from his post as he and his forces advanced upon Moscow Saturday, making it just 120 miles from the city before announcing the retreat.
On friday, Russia's state-run news agency TASS said the nation's federal security service opened a criminal case against Prigozhin for calling for armed mutiny.
Russian President Vladimir Putin — who did not mention Prigozhin by name — made a speech on Saturday promising to quash the Wagner Group’s “armed insurrection,” branding the mutiny as “treason” and a “stab in the back.”
The Wagner Group took over two major Russian cities, Rostov and Voronezh, and appeared intent on continuing to Moscow before retreating on saturday.
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