Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned Tuesday that Moscow had paid out final yr simply over $1 billion to the Wagner mercenary group, which final week staged a failed mutiny.
“The state paid to the Wagner group 86.262 billion rubles (around $1 billion) for salaries for fighters and incentive rewards between May 2022 and May 2023 alone,” Putin mentioned.
He was chatting with defence officers in televised remarks at first of a gathering.
Russia as soon as denied the very existence of Wagner, a shadowy mercenary military that defends Moscow’s pursuits with operations in a number of African and Middle Eastern states.
But since its fighters grew to become one of many mainstays of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, Wagner’s chief — former Kremlin catering contractor Yevgeny Prigozhin — has gone public.
On Saturday, Wagner launched a revolt — ostensibly to withstand efforts to fold it into the official ministry of defence construction — seized a military headquarters and marched on Moscow.
Putin has condemned this as a betrayal, and ordered that Wagner lose its heavy weaponry, whereas its fighters both be part of the common armed forces or settle for exile in Belarus.
And by revealing the large scale of official spending on Wagner‘s providers, Putin has confirmed that it has successfully been appearing as an arm of the state.
“The content of the entire Wagner group was fully provided by the state, from the Ministry of Defence, from the state budget. We fully funded this group,” Putin mentioned.
That Wagner’s leaders now be portrayed as traitors is a flip round for Russian state messaging. Previously the group loved heroic standing as a part of the Ukraine offensive.
Even whereas criticising Wagner within the wake of Saturday’s revolt, Putin was clear to not assault rank-and-file troops, “because they really showed courage and heroism”.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
