Russia Drops Criminal Charges Against Prigozhin After Wagner Rebellion

The Russian home intelligence company mentioned on Tuesday that it was dropping “armed mutiny” felony fees towards Yevgeny V. Prigozhin and members of his Wagner drive, whereas the Russian Protection Ministry introduced that the mercenary group’s fighters had been getting ready at hand over army tools to the military.

An amnesty for Wagner fighters who participated within the mutiny was a part of a deal brokered on Saturday between Mr. Prigozhin and President Vladimir V. Putin that introduced an finish to the revolt, through which Wagner troops seized a army set up in southern Russia and marched to inside 125 miles of Moscow. The Wagner forces additionally shot down a number of Russian plane, resulting in the deaths of an undisclosed variety of airmen whom Mr. Putin has praised as “fallen hero pilots.”

However the announcement by the intelligence company, the Federal Safety Service, or F.S.B., made clear that Mr. Prigozhin and his associates wouldn’t face felony punishment for the violence.

“It was established that its individuals stopped their actions straight aimed toward committing a criminal offense on June 24,” the F.S.B. mentioned in a press release on Tuesday. “Making an allowance for these and different circumstances of worth to the investigation, the investigative company resolved on June 27 to terminate the felony case.”

On the identical time, the Russian Protection Ministry introduced that Wagner troops had been getting ready at hand over the group’s “heavy {hardware}” to the military, an obvious reference to army tools. The ministry didn’t present particulars.

The bulletins gave the impression to be an effort to handle one of many questions that has lingered for the reason that weekend mutiny: the destiny of Wagner’s closely armed forces. Mr. Putin has mentioned that each one personal armies combating on behalf of Russia in Ukraine must come below the supervision of the Russian Protection Ministry by July 1, together with members of Wagner.

However there was no speedy response from the Wagner group or from Mr. Prigozhin, who has not been seen publicly since Saturday. And there have been few particulars on how a lot of Wagner’s tools can be relinquished to the Protection Ministry or on what number of Wagner fighters — whose numbers Mr. Prigozhin lately put at 25,000 — would comply with be positioned below the Russian Military’s command.

Mr. Prigozhin, in an audio message revealed on Monday by his information service, mentioned that, earlier than the revolt, “lower than 2 %” of his forces had been keen to comply with the brand new command construction. He additionally mentioned that he and his fighters had been getting ready to surrender their heavy tools final week, regardless of his reservations, however determined towards it after what he mentioned was a Russian Military assault on a Wagner base, a declare for which he has supplied no proof.

The Wagner group has a variety of kit, together with tanks, a number of rocket launcher techniques and plane.

It was doable that the group would search to maintain a few of their tools and transfer it to Africa, the place it operates as a non-public militia and Russian proxy drive in a number of nations. In response to the deal brokered this weekend by the president of Belarus, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, Mr. Prigozhin and Wagner would be capable of proceed their work in Africa, the place the group has confronted quite a few allegations of human rights abuses.

The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, mentioned that he couldn’t give particulars about what would occur to Wagner recruiting facilities inside Russia. There have been reviews on Tuesday that at the least one of many facilities in Siberia remained open.

Mr. Prigozhin has not been seen publicly since a video on Saturday evening confirmed him leaving the southern Russian metropolis of Rostov-on-Don, surrounded by cheering supporters. Beneath the deal brokered over the weekend, Mr. Prigozhin was to go away for Belarus, Russia’s neighbor and closest ally. The Kremlin additionally didn’t touch upon questions on whether or not some Wagner forces would transfer to Belarus.