Title: Russian President Putin Reveals Wagner Group’s Rejection of Leadership Change in Ukraine
Subtitle: Putin Claims “Gray Hair” Commander Offered to Replace Mutinous Chief Prigozhin
By Snejana Farberov | July 14, 2023 | 2:37pm
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently disclosed that he had offered the Wagner Group mercenaries the opportunity to continue fighting in Ukraine under the leadership of a senior commander known as “Gray Hair.” However, their mutinous chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, swiftly dismissed the proposal during their meeting on June 29, claiming that “the boys won’t agree with such a decision,” according to Putin.
In an interview with Russia’s top business newspaper Kommersant, Putin also asserted that the Wagner Group, which played a prominent role in the ten-month-long battle for the key city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, “doesn’t exist.” This marks the first time Putin has offered his account of the events following the Wagner Group’s rebellion, aimed at overthrowing Russia’s military leaders due to their handling of the war in Ukraine.
Five days after Prigozhin agreed to step down as part of a hastily negotiated peace agreement with the Russian government, he and 34 Wagner commanders were summoned to the Kremlin for a meeting with President Putin. During the interview, Putin praised the Wagner fighters’ actions in Ukraine, condemned their involvement in the uprising, and presented them with opportunities for future service, as long as it didn’t involve Prigozhin.
One possibility suggested by Putin was for the mercenaries to be led by the same senior commander, Andrei Troshev, nicknamed “Sedoi” or “Gray Hair,” who had been the de facto leader of the private army in Ukraine for 16 months. Putin claimed that Prigozhin rejected the offer without consulting his subordinates, stating, “the boys won’t agree with such a decision.”
Though it remains unknown which proposal the mercenaries ultimately accepted, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that the Wagner troops pledged their loyalty to Putin during the three-hour meeting and expressed their readiness to continue fighting for their homeland.
With regards to the existence of Wagner as a fighting unit, Putin perplexingly responded, “But Wagner does not exist. There is no law on private military organizations. It just doesn’t exist.” The Kremlin later reinforced this statement, stating that there was no legal entity named Wagner, and the legal status of such companies required further consideration.
The fate of Yevgeny Prigozhin following the failed uprising remains shrouded in mystery. According to the truce brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin was supposed to go into exile in Belarus alongside his troops. However, Lukashenko recently revealed that Prigozhin had returned to Russia.
Belarusian state TV aired footage of Wagner instructors training Belarusian territorial defense forces at a firing range near Asipovichy, where a camp offered to Wagner is located. Additionally, a Belarusian messaging app channel reported that Prigozhin spent a night at the camp earlier this week, sharing a photo of him inside a tent. The Belarusian Defense Ministry did not disclose the number of Wagner troops present in Belarus.
Reports previously placed Prigozhin in St. Petersburg, where he allegedly visited the FSB security service’s office to retrieve his confiscated arsenal of weapons. When asked about Prigozhin’s whereabouts, President Biden jokingly suggested that he should be cautious about his diet, hinting that he could be poisoned. Retired US Gen. Robert Abrams speculated that Prigozhin was either dead or imprisoned, expressing doubt about seeing him again publicly.
In conclusion, Putin’s revelation sheds light on the Wagner Group’s rejection of a leadership change in Ukraine. Prigozhin’s refusal to accept the proposal extended the uncertainty surrounding the future actions and whereabouts of the mercenaries and their chief.