The Russian Security Service has cancelled a criminal investigation into Yevgeny Prigozhin and members of the Wagner Force mercenary company suspected of "participating in an armed rebellion" after the events that shocked Russia over the weekend, Russian news agencies reported on Tuesday.
According to a report by the RIA news agency, the case was closed after the Russian Security Service determined that "the participants ceased direct participation in acts aimed at committing the crime." Under the deal reached by Prigozhin and the rebels with the Kremlin, members of the Wagner Force would not be prosecuted and would be allowed to return to their bases.
Rostov residents hug Wagner | Rostov Galvany
In addition, RIA reported that members of the Wagner Force are expected to begin handing over their heavy weapons to the Russian Defense Ministry. During the uprising, which lasted nearly a day, Prigozhin's men used tanks, armored personnel carriers and batteries of anti-aircraft missiles. The company has an impressive fleet that also includes attack aircraft, helicopters and artillery. At this stage, it is unclear whether all the heavy equipment in the company's possession will be returned to the Russian Ministry of Defense or that some of it will be straightened in its hands.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Prigozhin's plane landed this morning in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, after carrying out several flights from Rostov and Saint Petersburg over the past 24 hours. It is unclear at this stage whether Prigozhin himself is in the country. Prigozhin released a recording on Monday in which he claimed he never intended to overthrow the Russian government.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko spoke and directly addressed the rebellion of the Wagner Force. Lukashenko said: "It was painful for me to see the events that took place in southern Russia. I wasn't the only one in pain. Many of our citizens took the events to heart, because the homeland is one." According to various reports, Lukashenko was at the center of brokering the agreement between Prigozhin and the Kremlin and is now expected to absorb some of Wagner's men on Belarusian territory.
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