Russia’s mutiny case against Wagner chief remains open
MOSCOW: Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin remains under investigation by the Federal Security Service (FSB) on suspicion of organising an armed mutiny, the Kommersant newspaper reported on Monday, citing an unidentified source.
The criminal case against Prigozhin was initiated on June 23 after he announced a “march for justice” by his fighters against the military leadership, who he said were cowards who were undermining Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.
As part of a deal, as set out by the Kremlin’s spokesman, criminal charges against the mutineers were to be dropped in exchange for their return to camps, and Prigozhin was to move to Belarus.
On its website, Kommersant cited its source as saying there had not yet been time to change the status of the case.
Russia’s three main news agencies - TASS, RIA and Interfax - also reported that the criminal case against Prigozhin remained open and that the investigation was continuing.
“The criminal case against Prigozhin has not stopped,” TASS cited a source close to the prosecutor’s office as saying. “The investigation is ongoing.”
The prison term under Russian law for such a crime is 12-20 years. Prigozhin, who has not been seen in public since leaving Rostov late on Saturday and has not commented on the deal, denied leading a mutiny.
There was no confirmation of his whereabouts on Monday, although a popular Russian news channel on Telegram reported that he had been seen at a hotel in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday issued via the Kremlin website his first statement since an armed mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group, congratulating participants of an industrial forum.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu also made his first public appearance since a mercenary uprising demanded his ouster, inspecting troops in Ukraine in a video released Monday aimed at projecting a sense of order after the country’s most serious political crisis in decades. agencies
