Wagner Group completing handover of weapons to Russian forces: Ministry

MOSCOW

Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Wednesday that representatives of the Wagner paramilitary group are completing the transfer of weapons, military equipment and ammunition to the armed forces.

Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the mercenary group has already returned 2,000 pieces of military equipment, 20,000 small arms and 2.5 tons of ammunition.

Konashenkov said Wagner fighters had at their disposal tanks, rocket systems and various types of artillery equipment, anti-tank systems and means of transportation.

"Among the transferred equipment, dozens of units have never been used in combat conditions," he noted.

All equipment and weapons are being delivered to the rear areas, where repair and restoration units of the Russian armed forces are carrying out maintenance and training for use for their intended purpose, he said.

On June 24, Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry of attacking the group’s fighters, declared a "March of Justice" and set off toward Moscow.

The Russian Federal Security Service designated the group's action "an armed rebellion" and opened a criminal case against Prigozhin, while President Vladimir Putin called the private military company's uprising an act of "treason."

Prigozhin, however, later turned back "to avoid bloodshed" and has since moved to Belarus under a deal brokered by President Aleksandr Lukashenko.