Gruppe Wagner takes control of the Russian city of RostovonDon with tanks. After an agreement with Putin brokered by Lukashenko (Belarus), they withdrew. 24 June 2023.| Photo: EFE/EPO/STRINGER
According to news agencies, the Wagner Group, a private mercenary company that staged an armed uprising in Russia this Saturday (24), has begun withdrawing its troops from the city of RostovonDon after reaching an agreement with the country’s authorities . Russian.
The Wagner militiamen have already left the territory of the Russian army headquarters in the city, which they seized this Saturday, “without a shot being fired,” according to the group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
According to the newspaper Kommersant, the citizens gathered to say goodbye to the mercenaries.
“Thank you for coming here today. I finally started to believe in this country,” a RostovonDon resident told Wagner militia officers, the newspaper said.
Locals shouted “Wagner”, applauded and took photos with the paramilitary team who left the city, the newspaper added. The withdrawal of fighters from the RostovonDon mercenary group comes less than two hours after Prigozhin announced Wagner would return to his bases to avoid bloodshed in Russia.
Prigozhin made this statement when Wagner Group forces were about 200 kilometers from Moscow and after reaching an agreement with Russian authorities thanks to the mediation of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The terms of the agreement have not yet been announced.