Prigozhin De-escalates After Belarus Brokers a Deal

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Prigozhin and Wagner have agreed to turn back to avoid bloodshed, their leader said on Saturday, in a de-escalation of what had become a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power. This is being reported by Reuters.

The fighters of the Wagner private army run by former Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin were already most of the way to the capital, having captured the city of Rostov and set off on an 1,100 km (680 mile) race to Moscow.

A deal to halt further movement of Wagner fighters across Russia in return for guarantees of safety for the rebels was brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Prigozhin said: “They wanted to disband Wagner PMC. In a day, we walked less than 200 kilometres from Moscow. During this time, we did not shed a single drop of blood from our fighters. Now the moment has come when blood can be shed. Therefore, understanding all the responsibility for that Russian blood will be shed on one of the sides, we turn our columns and leave in the opposite direction to the field camps according to the plan.”

The rumor is that Defense Minister Shoigu has had to resign.

With the statement of the President of Belarus, Lukashenka. that a deal was brokered. There has been de-escalation.

Nextbigfuture believes that this will not be the end of the situation. Clearly, Putin will want to eliminate Prigozhin and Prigozhin knows this.

Prigozhin has achieved independent control of Wagner for a time and has played for Russian public support.

8 thoughts on “Prigozhin De-escalates After Belarus Brokers a Deal”

  2. Prigozhin, Shoigu, Gerasimov, and Putin are finished. Moscow was defenseless because all reserves are deployed in Ukraine and attriting 1,000 men per day. The only person with a following in Russia is Navalny who is in prison. The Russian Federation cookie is crumbling. Nobody can predict how a cookie crumbles.

  3. I think he has been baited by his enemy in MoD. He is a good warrior, even a good strategist but not cunning enough to play political games. Now, he’s finished.

  4. Who starts something like this, and bails halfway through it? “If you strike at the king, you must kill him.” Who hasn’t heard that?

    Was the whole mess some bit of theater so Putin could encourage would be rebels to expose themselves? Or is it as Twain said: “The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction needs to be credible.”?

    If I’d read this in a book I’d probably have stopped reading…

    • Seems like some kind of ill-advised application of “escalating to de-escalate”. But what now? What keeps Prigozhin’s head attached to his shoulders now that he’s retired to Belarus and likely had no control over large numbers of wagner troops?

      Like you said, this would be so unrealistically stupid if read in a book that you’d stop reading.

  5. Putin called him a traitor. Now he is going to say he’s compromising with him? Made him flee to Saint Petersburg like a scared rabbit. Now everything is sorted out? And the Military who threw in behind Wagner and not going to kill him for this?

    This is the weirdest thing ever.

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