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The Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that the Wagner Group handed over thousands of tons of weapons, ammunition and military equipment to the Russian army. This is the latest sign Moscow is still working to break the hold of the mercenaries after their dramatic and short-lived mutiny last month.
The ministry released a video showing staff inspecting some of the more than 2,000 pieces of equipment and 2,750 tons of ammunition. The loot included tanks, Pantsir and other missile systems, and around 20,000 small arms, the ministry said.
The Washington Post was unable to review the video or confirm that the weapons shown were used by the Wagner group.
However, the claim suggests that Wagner is fulfilling his end of the agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin to end the uprising. In the deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin ally, Prigozhin abandoned his “march for justice” to Moscow and agreed to the release of Wagner’s supplies in exchange for safe passage to Belarusian exile.
During the uprising, Wagner troops were sighted with anti-aircraft weapons. The mercenaries fighting alongside the Russian army in Ukraine shot down six Russian helicopters and a transport plane.
“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are completing the removal of weapons and military equipment from units of the Wagner Group as planned,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement. “Of the transferred equipment, dozens of units were never used in combat conditions.”
The claim of idle equipment appeared to be an attempt to undermine Prigozhin’s complaints that the ministry had deprived Wagner’s forces of ammunition during their offensives in eastern Ukraine.
“What are the words of Yevgeny Prigozhin worth that he didn’t give ammunition?” Russian war correspondent Alexander Zladkov asked on Telegram.
“In addition, the Wagner group had two warehouses in Russia, also under the Ministry of Defense,” he wrote. “In Voronezh alone there are more than 1,100 tons of ammunition. If we convert the last figure into shells, 1100 tons equals approximately 25,000 shells.”
But supporters of Prigozhin defended him, saying that such an amount would be consumed on the battlefield within a few days.
“According to Yevgeny Prigozhin, it took about 6,000 shells a day to advance at least 100-200 meters a day in the Artemovsky direction,” wrote one blogger. “Total 25,000 is a 4-5 day spend.”
The Pro-Prigozhin Wagner Orchestra channel, meanwhile, reminded readers of its claim that two and a half times more ammunition was used at Bakhmut than in the Battle of Stalingrad, the disastrous confrontation between Soviet and Nazi forces in World War II.
“Evgeny Prigozhin has repeatedly reported that this amount of ammunition in the final stage could be enough for several days of heavy fighting in Bakhmut,” the poster reads. “The current conflict in Ukraine is a difficult war in which front-line artillery plays the leading role.”
A senior Russian official said Wednesday that General Sergei Surovikin, who has not been seen in public since the mutiny, is “currently dormant” and “currently unavailable.”
Russian media have reported that Surovikin, who had a close relationship with Prigozhin, was interrogated by Russian security forces at an undisclosed location about these connections.
The future of the Wagner Group remains unclear. News this week that Putin had met with Prigozhin five days after the mutiny indicated details of the deal were still being worked out.
Lukashenko, the Belarusian leader, said last week that Prigozhin had returned to Russia. A businessman in St. Petersburg, Prigozhin’s hometown, said the Wagner boss was visiting to reclaim funds and weapons confiscated by the Russian government.
Putin said Wagner fighters could sign contracts with the Defense Ministry, relocate to Belarus, or go home. Satellite images have shown that a camp is being built in Belarus, but neither Wagner nor Lukashenko have confirmed it would serve as a new base for the mercenaries. Thousands of Wagner fighters are believed to still be stationed in Russian-held areas of eastern Ukraine.
Mercenary service is illegal in Russia, but Wagner began participating in the war a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The group was an important attacking force and responsible for the few battlefield victories Russia has achieved in recent months.
Robyn Dixon and Mary Ilyushina contributed to this report.
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