The Kremlin has refused to elaborate on the future of the Wagner mercenary group after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the private military company, which mounted a short-lived mutiny last month, has operated without a legal basis.
“There is no law on private military organizations. It simply doesn’t exist,” Putin told the Russian newspaper Kommersant three weeks after a brief revolt that posed the most serious threat to the Russian leader’s 23-year rule.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov in a conference call with reporters refused to elaborate when asked about Putin’s comments to Kommersant in an interview published on July 14.
While the Kremlin said there was no legal entity named Wagner and the legal status of such companies was a complicated one that required consideration, it has previously admitted the government has paid the group billions of rubles.
Putin told Kommersant that he offered the private military company the option of continuing to serve as a single unit under their same commander, who goes by the call sign "Gray Hair" and has led the private army in Ukraine for 16 months.
The commander, Andrei Troshev, is a retired military officer who has played a leading role in Wagner since its creation in 2014 and faced European Union sanctions over his role in Syria as the group's executive director.
“All of them could have gathered in one place and continued to serve,” Putin told the newspaper, “And nothing would have changed for them. They would have been led by the same person who had been their real commander all along.”
Putin had previously said Wagner troops had to choose whether to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry, move to Belarus, or retire.
Putin emphasized in the interview that “rank-and-file soldiers of Wagner have fought honorably” in Ukraine, adding that “it’s a cause for regret that they were drawn” into the mutiny.
Putin's remarks appeared to be part of efforts to denigrate Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin while trying to maintain control over Wagner mercenaries and secure their loyalty. The fate of Prigozhin remains unclear.
Putin described a Kremlin meeting attended by 35 Wagner commanders, including Prigozhin, on June 29, five days after the rebellion. He said he offered them alternatives for future service, and many signaled their approval, but Prigozhin did not.
Putin didn't mention where and in what numbers Wagner could be deployed under his offer or say what proposal the forces eventually accepted, if any.
Some of the mercenaries were shown on July 14 in a Belarusian state TV broadcast instructing soldiers in Belarus at a military range southeast of Minsk.
The broadcast showed Wagner instructors training Belarusian territorial defense forces at a firing range about 90 kilometers southeast of Minsk.
"Wagner fighters acted as instructors in a number of military disciplines," the Belarusian Defense Ministry's television channel said. State news agency BelTa also reported that Wagner troops were training Belarusian soldiers.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry didn't say how many Wagner troops were in Belarus or specify whether more will follow. Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has previously said it was up to Prigozhin and the Russian government to decide whether to move to Belarus.
Lukashenka, who brokered the deal to end the rebellion in exchange for an amnesty for Prigozhin and his men and permission for them to move to Belarus, has said Prigozhin is in Russia, while Wagner’s troops are in their field camps.