2023-07-12 21:17:00
RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY | REUTERS
The paramilitaries handed over to the Russian Ministry of Defense various equipment and military material, including, according to military spokesman Igor Konashnkov, 2,500 tons of various ammunition
12 jul 2023 . Updated at 9:24 p.m.
The Wagner Group has transferred more than 2,000 military equipment and weaponsincluding roadblocks and multiple missile launch systems, to the Russian Ministry of Defense after the failed armed mutiny staged by Russian mercenaries last June, the military spokesman, Igor Konashnkov, reported today.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in accordance with the plan, are completing the acceptance of weapons and military equipment from the units of the Wagner Group, the lieutenant general said in a statement.
He explained that Defense received more than 2,000 pieces of equipment and weapons, including hundreds of heavy weapons such as T-90, T-80, T-72B3 tanks, Grad and Uragn multiple launch rocket systems, Pantsir anti-aircraft gun and missile systems, self-propelled artillery 2S1 Gvozdika, Acacia, Hiacinth, Tulip, howitzers and anti-tank missiles.
also mortar systems, multipurpose armored vehiclesarmored personnel carriers, as well as other vehicles and some 20,000 small arms, Konashnkov said.
Likewise, the mercenaries handed over to the regular Armed Forces more than 2,500 tons of various ammunitiongo.
The Defense spokesman also indicated that among the transferred equipment, dozens of units have never been used on the battlefield.
Konashnkov explained that now heavy tracked vehicles, high-capacity self-propelled artillery mounts and tanks will be brought to the rear.
All equipment and weapons are delivered to the rear areas, where repair and restoration units of the Armed Forces carry out maintenance and preparation for use, he said.
The process of transferring the weapons that were in the hands of the Wagnerites in Ukraine began on June 27, three days after the mercenaries led by Yevgueni Prigozhin rose up from the south of Russia and reached 200 kilometers from Moscow to avoid their capture. disappearance as a private military company.
An agreement between Prigozhin and the Kremlin mediated by the Belarusian president, Alexandr Lukashenko, managed to stop the armed rebellion.
Under the agreement, Russian President Vladmir Putin He gave the mercenaries three exits: return home, go to Belarus or sign a contract with the Ministry of Defense or other security agencies in the country to report to the Minister of Defense, Sergui Shoig, and the Chief of the General Staff, Valeri Gersimov.
This meant in practice the dismantling, at least in Ukraine, of the Wagner Group, as it had been known since it was created in 2014 following the outbreak of the conflict in Donbs, in eastern Ukraine.
As part of the agreement, the Kremlin promised the mercenaries and their boss that they would not be criminally prosecuted.
So far it is unknown how many Wagnerites have signed an agreement with Defense, while the latest news from Prigozhin and the mercenaries is that they are on vacation until early August before moving to Belarus to train and advise the Belarusian forces.
Filed Under: Russia
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