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→Wagner mutiny
==Wagner mutiny==
==Wagner mutiny==
Under Russian law, the Wagner group or any other private military company (PMC) cannot operate on Russian territory. After the annexation of 4 new republics by referendum in 2023, [[Donetsk]], [[Lugansk]], [[Zaporozhye]], and [[Kherson]], the Russian Ministry of Defense (MOD) ordered that the Wagner group be incorporated into the regular Russian armed forces, and that all members sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense.
Under Russian law, neither the Wagner group nor any other private military company (PMC) can operate on the territory of Russia. After the annexation of the four new republics to the Russian Federation by referendum in the fall of 2022 - [[Donetsk]], [[Lugansk]], [[Zaporozhye]], and [[Kherson]] - the Russian Ministry of Defense (MOD) ordered that the Wagner group be incorporated into the regular Russian armed forces when the Wagner group's current contract with the Ministry of Defense ran out in June 2023. The new arrangement stipulated that all members become contract soldiers directly to the Ministry of Defense. Faced with losing control over the group, Wagner CEO Evgeny Prigozhin opposed implementing the new rules.
===Western intelligence===
''[[The Washington Post]]'' claimed to have obtained previously unreported documents from the [[Pentagon]] [[leak]]s alleging that Prigozhin was secretly in cahoots with [[Kiev]]. It was published the day after ''WaPo'' asked [[Zelensky]] about it on May 14, 2023.<ref>[https://archive.is/vqAwI Wagner chief offered to give Russian troop locations to Ukraine, leak says], By Shane Harris and Isabelle Khurshudyan, ''The Washington Post'', May 14, 2023.</ref> Zelensky reacted angrily to their summary of the so-called 'Discord Leaks' contents. Zelensky then asked ''WaPo'' who passed the information along, and accused whoever it may have been of committing treason.<ref>https://theduran.com/zelensky-revealed-what-the-washington-post-deleted-video/</ref>
On June 20, 2023 the [[Pentagon]] alleged that a $6.2 accounting "error" allowed for the transfer of more wealth from the United States to Ukraine.<ref>https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-weapons-surplus-funding-72eeb6119439146f1939d5b1973a44ef</ref>
The Wagner group's contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense expired on May 21, 2023, and the group was to be disbanded on June 23. The day prior on June 22, ''Rybar'' reported,
{{quotebox-float|"[[FSO]] and [[FSB]] together with the Interior Ministry are conducting an operation to search for Ukrainian sleeper cells and sabotage and reconnaissance groups (Once Again: not the Wagners, but Ukrainian GUR [military intelligence] groups). According to our information, in the course of operational activities the FSB officers managed to find two agents of the Ukrainian GUR, who surrendered the entire chain of underground cells in the capital and the #[[Moscow]] region. They are now looking for a couple of dozen people who form the basis of the clandestine GUR network.
The fact that [[terrorist]] attacks were being prepared and attacks on government facilities was confirmed by facts of undercover reconnaissance: employees of diplomatic missions in diplomatic vans drove around #Moscow, recorded security guards and the order of duty and then passed this information to the GUR. A complex operation was being prepared."<ref>https://askeptic.substack.com/p/battlefield-update-2023-06-24-1</ref>}}
Hours before the mutiny commenced on the morning of June 23, 2023, ''[[Newsweek]]'' published a story entitled, ''Putin is Underestimating Prigozhin's Rise in Popularity''.<ref>https://www.newsweek.com/putin-prigozhin-wagner-group-popularity-war-ukraine-shoigu-1808145</ref>
[[File:Gerasimov and Shoigu.PNG|right|300px|thumb|The objects of Prigozhin's wrath, Gerasimov and Shoigu.]]
In a rather long and erratic interview, Prigozhin made the shocking claim that Russia’s pretext for the war in Ukraine was an outright lie and that the war had been fraught with corruption and the murder of civilians. Things then got even crazier when Wagner claimed that the Russian army had struck their camp with a missile. The video which was released purporting to show the aftermath of this “missile strike” did not show an impact crater, debris, or any wounded or killed Wagner personnel. The “damage” from the missile consisted of two campfires burning in a trench.
The video obviously did not show the aftermath of a missile attack, but Prigozhin’s rhetoric escalated after this. It seemed to center on personal grudges against Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
On the moring of June 23, 2023 Prigozhin and some 5,000 of his forces left the [[Special De-Nazification Operation]] zone of conflict and took control over Rostov-on-Don, a city with a population of over 1 million in the Southern Federal District of Russia, and is the headquarters of the Southern Military District, which has overall command of the special military operation in Ukraine. Many of the troops that exited Ukraine with Prigozhin where not informed where they were going or what for.
Prigozhin sent Dmitry Utkin to lead the column of forces north toward Moscow on what he called a "March for Justice" against the Russian Ministry of Defense. [[Globalist]] billionaire [[oligarch]] [[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]] living in [[London]], who is wanted in Russia for the contract killing of Nefteyugansk mayor Vladimir Petukhov,<ref>{{cite news|date=23 December 2015|title=Russian court orders arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky over contract killing|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-khodorkovsky-arrest-idUSKBN0U60PO20151223|work=Reuters|access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=30 June 2015|title=Russia reopens 1998 murder probe; Putin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a suspect|url=https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-russia-khodorkovsky-murder-suspect-20150630-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=}}</ref> issued a tweet urging citizens to give the mutineers gasoline and for their opponents not to fight against the mutiny.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-24 |title=Russia live updates: Putin accuses Wagner chief of 'mutiny' and vows mercenaries will face justice |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/live-blog/russia-wagner-attempted-coup-putin-mutiny-ukraine-pro-rcna90934 |access-date=|website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> An arrest warrant was issued for Prigozhin for treason.
A few videos came from the Russian authorities, including one featuring General Surovikin holding a pistol, apparently pleading with Wagner to “stop the movement of their columns” and return to their posts.
The [[Ukrainian propaganda war|Ukrainian propaganda machine]] kicked into overdrive, with characters like [[Anton Gerashchenko]] and Igor Sushko absolutely bombarding [[social media]] with [[fake news|fake stories]] about Russian army units mutinying and regional governors “defecting” to Prigozhin - in effect positing that this was not just an uprising by Wagner against the state, but a wholesale revolt of the Russian system against Putin’s government. In fact there were no defections in any regular Russian military units or regional governments, no civil unrest, and no denunciations of Putin. The mutiny was confined to the Wagner Group, and even so not all of Wagner participated. Many who arrived in Rostov with Prigozhin didn't even know what they were there for.
The government of Belarus announced that a settlement had been negotiated with Prigozhin and Putin. Belarussian [[President Alexander Lukashenko]]’s office claimed “they came to agreements on the inadmissibility of unleashing a bloody massacre on the territory of Russia.” The column turned aside from the road to Moscow and returned to Wagner’s field camps around Ukraine, and the Wagner forces left in Rostov packed up and left. The terms of the settlement were anticlimactic: the treason case against Prigozhin was dropped and he was exhiled to Belarus; Wagner fighters who participated in the uprising would not be charged and would return to operations in Ukraine; Wagner fighters that did not participate in the uprising would sign contracts with the Russian military (essentially exiting Wagner and become regular contract troops); a vague reference to “security guarantees” for Wagner fighters.
As required by law, the [[Gang of 8]] in the [[U.S. Congress]] had been briefed on the Prigozhin Putsch by the Biden regime beforehand.<ref>https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-intelligence-knew-days-advance-wagner-rebellion-briefed-congress</ref>
[[Serbia]]n President Aleksandar Vucic publicly remarked that foreign intelligence agencies played a role in the Wagner PMC's action.<ref>https://nexusnewsfeed.com/article/geopolitics/foreign-powers-involved-in-coup-attempt-in-russia-serbian-president/</ref>
==Wagnergate scandal==
==Wagnergate scandal==