Putin recasts mutiny led by mercenary chief as his own victory

President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Tuesday tried to recast the weekend rebellion by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin as a heroic episode for a rock-solid Russian state, while neighboring Belarus said Prigozhin had gone into exile there, and signaled that it would be open to taking in his battle-hardened troops, as well.

Russia’s domestic intelligence agency said it was dropping its criminal investigation of Prigozhin, who drove fighters from his Wagner group toward Moscow before standing down on Saturday, and the Defense Ministry said that Wagner was preparing to hand over its heavy equipment to the military.

But even as the Kremlin projected an air of control and stability, top officials made clear that the fallout was not finished, signaling that it might root out people who were tied to the mercenary leader or who were insufficiently steadfast in support of Putin during the crisis.

In a televised meeting with military service members in Moscow, Putin suggested that Prigozhin — whose name he has refused to utter publicly in recent days — or people linked to him might be guilty of graft. He said that Prigozhin, a catering magnate, had made roughly $1 billion from military catering contracts in the past year, and that the government had spent another $1 billion supporting the Wagner forces who have been brutally effective fighting for Russia in Ukraine.

“I want everyone to know this: The support for the Wagner group was completely provided by the state,” Putin said before concluding with a warning:

“I hope that in the course of this work, no one stole anything — or, let’s say, didn’t steal much — but we will certainly get to the bottom of this.”

It continued a shift in the opaque power dynamics of Russia’s ruling elite, where cronyism and corruption can offer a tolerated path to influence and riches — unless the people involved run afoul of those at the top. What the president did not acknowledge was that Prigozhin rose to prominence and wealth based primarily on his longtime former closeness to Putin himself.

The chairperson of Russia’s lower house of Parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, directed lawmakers to determine which government officials had fled Moscow during the rebellion.

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