Kremlin Admits Putin Held Meeting With Wagner Boss Days After Rebellion

News has emerged today that the president of Russia met with the Wagner chief after last month’s aborted mutiny.

On Monday, July 10, a Russian presidential spokesman confirmed that a meeting lasting ‘nearly three hours’ took place in Moscow between Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin, following the attempted armed coup a fortnight ago, in a report from Liberation.

Meeting In Moscow

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, it was confirmed today that the Russian President did meet Yevgeny Prigozhin just five days after his aborted march on Moscow. Reportedly the meeting, held on June 29 June was attended by 35 people and lasted ‘almost three hours’.

During the meeting, which also included some of the private army’s top brass, Putin ‘listened to the explanations of the commanders’ of Wagner and offered them ‘employment options for the future,’ including in combat.

Peskov asserts that the commanders themselves presented their version of events. They stressed that they were fervent supporters and soldiers of the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief and that they were ready to continue fighting for their homeland.

Wagner Forces Retreat From Central African Republic

There has been much speculation following the events of June 24, when the Wagner leader came within just a few hundred miles of Moscow before turning back. The actual whereabouts of Wagner’s boss and his main lieutenants remain unknown as they have kept a very low profile.

It also raised questions about the Wagner empire, a private military company with a huge presence in Africa. According to sources, 500 of Wagner’s 1,400 mercenaries have left behind 14 bases in the Central African Republic. Rumours abound that they may be replaced with official Russian military personnel.

One other Russian general’s whereabouts are also a matter of conjecture, that of Sergey Surovkin, a close friend of Prigozhin. He has not been seen for some considerable time, leading many to put forward their own theories.

It seems the Russian leadership are trying to put the seismic events behind them and return to business as usual. On Monday, the Chief of the Russian General Staff and commander of military operations in Ukraine, Valeri Guerassimov, made his first public appearance since the aborted rebellion by the Wagner group, which targeted him personally.