Moscow says preparations underway for transfer of Wagner equipment to Russian military

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Moscow said on Tuesday that preparations were underway for the transfer of military equipment belonging to the Wagner paramilitary group to the Russian Armed Forces.

“Preparations are underway for the transfer of Wagner PMC (private military company) heavy military equipment to the active units of the Russian Armed Forces,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

Separately, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it closed the criminal case opened against Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, according to a statement released to journalists by the FSB’s Center for Public Relations.

On June 24, Wagner accused the Russian Defense Ministry of attacking its fighters, after which Prigozhin declared "A March of Justice" and crossed the Ukrainian border into the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, intending to march toward Moscow.

The FSB qualified Wagner's actions as "an armed rebellion" and opened a criminal case against Prigozhin, while President Vladimir Putin called Wagner's uprising an act of "treason."

Prigozhin and his fighters later decided to turn back "to avoid bloodshed" when they were 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Moscow.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he contributed to the settlement by holding talks with the Wagner’s head, which led to Prigozhin's decision to accept a de-escalation deal.​​​​​​​

On Monday, Prigozhin claimed that he did not plan to overthrow the Russian government but instead wanted to "voice protest" and prevent the Wagner Group from being disbanded, saying the Russian Defense Ministry had planned to sign contracts by July 1 with all Wagner fighters, making the group part of the regular army, which "would destroy its combat capability."