As of the morning of 26 June, the criminal case against Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, hasn’t been closed, Kommersant newspaper reports, citing sources.
According to the newspaper, the case is still being investigated by the Federal Security Service (FSB). The Kommersant source says too little time has passed for “a different decision” to be made.
Those charged with organising an armed uprising face from 12 to 20 years in prison.
On 23 June, the Wagner Group announced that units of the Russian Defence Ministry had struck a mercenary camp. The ministry denied this. Later, Prigozhin announced a “march of justice” on Russian territory.
In the early hours of 24 June, the FSB opened a criminal case against Prigozhin for organising an armed uprising. The special service stated that the Wagner chief’s actions are “essentially calls for starting an armed civil conflict” on Russian territory and are “a knife in the back” for Russian troops.
By the afternoon of 24 June, the Wagner troops had taken control of Russia’s southern cities of Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh, and started advancing on Moscow. However, in the evening of the same day, Belarus’ Alyaksandar Lukashenka came up with a statement saying he held talks with Prigozhin and managed to convince the insurgent to stop the advance on Moscow.
Later on, Prigozhin announced that the Wagnerites would return to their field camps.