Equipment, weapons, ammunition

According to the plan, the Russian Armed Forces are completing the acceptance of weapons and military equipment from units of the Wagner PMC, the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense reported in its Telegram channel.

“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in accordance with the plan, are completing the acceptance of weapons and military equipment from the units of the Wagner group,” the report said.

As noted in the defense department, the PMC has already transferred 2,000 pieces of equipment and weapons, 20,000 small arms and 2,500 tons of various ammunition. Among the transferred heavy weapons are T-90, T-80, T-72B3 tanks, Grad and Uragan multiple launch rocket systems, Pantsir anti-aircraft missile and gun systems, Gvozdika and Akatsia self-propelled artillery mounts, “Hyacinth”, “Tulip”, howitzers and anti-tank guns, mortar systems, multi-purpose armored tractors, armored personnel carriers. Dozens of weapons have never been used in combat.

June 24 mutiny

According to the ministry, heavy tracked vehicles, high-capacity self-propelled artillery mounts and tanks are transported to field bases by tractors on trawls so as not to damage the asphalt on the roadways. All equipment is transported to the rear of the RF Armed Forces for maintenance and preparation for further use.

The process of transferring heavy military equipment that was at the disposal of PMCs Wagner”, to the active units of the RF Armed Forces began on June 27. Three days earlier, on the night of June 24, fighters from Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private military company captured the headquarters of the Southern Military District, which is located in Rostov-on-Don, and began to move towards the capital. The capture occurred after Prigozhin accused the Russian Armed Forces of a missile attack on the rear camps of his fighters. The Ministry of Defense called the accusations of the head of the PMC a provocation. At the same time, Prigozhin announced the start of a “march of justice” against Moscow, demanding that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov be handed over to him.

A criminal case was opened against Prigozhin for organizing an armed rebellion. President Vladimir Putin called the actions of the rebels a stab in the back of Russia and treason, he also promised that the rebels would be punished. On the evening of June 24, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko announced that he had agreed with Prigozhin to stop the movement and turn the columns of PMCs in the opposite direction, which at that time, according to Prigozhin himself, did not reach Moscow about 200 km.

The damage from the actions of the private military company “Wagner” during the rebellion in Rostov-on-Don amounted to 92.5 million rubles, according to the head of the city administration Alexei Logvinenko. According to him, military equipment caused damage on an area of ​​12 thousand square meters. m of road and 210 sq. m sidewalk.

Contract with the Ministry of Defense

On June 29—five days after the mutiny—Putin met with Prigozhin and Wagner PMC commanders in the Kremlin, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov confirmed on July 10. This meeting was reported by the French newspaper Liberation, citing data from Western intelligence agencies. According to Peskov, the meeting lasted almost three hours, at which Putin “gave his assessment of the events of June 24,” and the commanders, in turn, outlined their version of what happened and expressed their readiness to continue fighting for their homeland. In total, 35 unit commanders attended the meeting.

Putin offered the PMC fighters “further options for employment and further combat use.” Even on the day of the rebellion – after it ended – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov promised the PMC fighters that they would retain the possibility of signing a contract with the Ministry of Defense.

some time before the rebellion, he did not agree to sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense, because of which he was notified of the removal of PMCs from participating in a special military operation. In mid-June, the head of the defense department, Shoigu, issued an order according to which all volunteer military formations must conclude contracts with the Ministry of Defense.

in the Mogilev region to train the Belarusian army. According to Kartapolov, the fate of this PMC in Russia is still unclear, but its subordination, number and structure will change.