- Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin would not accept new leadership for his group, said Vladimir Putin.
- There is uncertainty of Prigozhin’s whereabouts.
- Putin said there would be discussions about Wagner’s legality.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin refused to let his fighters serve under someone else’s command, which could have settled the fate of the group.
Three weeks after Prigozhin launched a short-lived rebellion against Russia’s top military brass, the future and whereabouts of Wagner members remain uncertain.
The Kremlin had confirmed but gave few details about a meeting between Putin, Prigozhin and other Wagner commanders on 29 June, five days after the mutiny.
In an interview to Kommersant published on Thursday evening, Putin said he had offered a way forward for Wagner fighters.
“(The fighters) could all gather in one place and continue to serve,” Putin told Kommersant.
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They would come under the authority of a commander nicknamed “Sedoy”, according to the daily newspaper.
“Nothing would have changed for them, they would have been led by the same person who was their real commander all this time,” Putin was cited as saying.
Members of Wagner group looks from a military vehicle in Rostov-on-Don.
People sit at the desk in the office in the ‘PMC Wagner Centre’, associated with the founder of the Wagner private military group (PMC) Yevgeny Prigozhin, during the official opening of the office block on the National Unity Day, in Saint Petersburg.
The Russian leader said that “many nodded” but that Prigozhin ultimately refused the offer.
Wagner had operated in the shadows for years.
It came into the spotlight during the military operation in Ukraine, despite the fact that private military companies are illegal in Russia.
Putin told Kommersant:
The (Wagner) group is here, but it does not exist legally!
“There is a separate question related to their real legalisation. It’s a question that must be discussed in the Duma and within the government,” Putin said, referring to the lower chamber of Parliament.
Observers say the mutiny was the biggest challenge to Vladimir Putin’s authority since he came to power in end 1999.
On 23 and 24 June, thousands of mercenaries took up weapons and marched from southern Russia toward Moscow with the aim of toppling the country’s military leaders.
The mutiny ended with a deal, mediated by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, under which Prigozhin was expected to move to neighbouring Belarus with some of his men.
