Kremlin To Drop Charges Against Mercenary Leader

The New York Times reports:

The outlines of a deal that appeared to defuse a rapidly evolving Russian security crisis began to come into focus late Saturday, as the Kremlin announced that a Russian mercenary leader, who for nearly 24 hours led an armed uprising against the country’s military leadership, would flee to Belarus and his fighters would escape repercussions.

The announcement capped one of the most tumultuous days in President Vladimir V. Putin’s more than 23-year rule in Russia and followed an apparent intervention by the leader of neighboring Belarus, who stepped in to negotiate a solution to the crisis directly with the head of the Wagner private military company, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, who was leading the revolt.

The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, told reporters that under an agreement brokered by Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus, Mr. Prigozhin would go to Belarus and the criminal case opened against him for organizing an armed insurrection would be dropped.

Read the full article.

The Kremlin said that it would drop charges against Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian mercenary leader it accused of treason, and that he would leave the country.

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— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 24, 2023

Wagner boss will not face criminal charges and will go to neighboring Belarus. His fighters will sign with Russia's military, Kremlin says. https://t.co/VzLUSW01bO

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) June 24, 2023