Putin says Wagner chief got some $2B from state over past year

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday the head of the Wagner paramilitary group got some $2 billion from the state over the past year.

Speaking with the servicemen at a meeting in the Kremlin, Putin said the Wagner was financed through the Defense Ministry, which transferred in May 2022-May 2023 some 86 billion rubles ($1.1 billion) for the salaries of mercenaries.

At the same time, the head of the group Yevgeny Prigozhin earned over 80 billion rubles (almost $1 billion) through its company Concord, which got a state order, amounting to this sum.

"I hope that in the course of these works (implementation of the state order), no one stole anything, or, let's say, stole not so much, but, of course, we will examine everything," he noted.

The president also noted that "the opponent" is trying to profit from the attempted mutiny but fails," without making clear who he is talking about.

On June 24, Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry of attacking its fighters, declared "A March of Justice," and set off toward Moscow, saying in a statement that he was going "to overthrow military chiefs."

The Federal Security Service designated Wagner Group's actions "an armed rebellion" and opened a criminal case against Prigozhin, while Putin called the paramilitary private company'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.