Wagner

Belarus said Friday that instructors from the Russian mercenary force Wagner were training its troops, following weeks of uncertainty about the future of the group after its failed mutiny in Russia.

The short-lived rebellion was ended by a deal under which some Wagner fighters and their outspoken leader Yevgeny Prigozhin were supposed to move to Belarus.

Wagner mercenaries are no longer participating in "any significant capacity" in combat operations in Ukraine, the Pentagon said Thursday, more than two weeks after the group's aborted mutiny in Russia.

Day 505 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

A chocolate museum in St. Petersburg. A gold mine in the Central African Republic. Oil and gas ventures off the Syrian coast.

The economic ventures of Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former hot dog seller turned Wagner group warlord who staged a brief mutiny against Russia's military last month, stretch far beyond the thousands of mercenaries he deployed in Ukraine, Africa and the Middle East.

Day 503 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

"Will I be able to shoot my comrades?" was the question that tormented Vlad during the armed rebellion of his former comrades on June 24.
A convoy of rebel mercenaries led by Yevgeny Prigozhin advanced toward Moscow and Russia seemed on the brink of civil war. Vlad feared that he would be sent to defend the capital against his former comrades.

The Kremlin said Monday that President Vladimir Putin had met with Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on June 29 in the Kremlin, days after the mercenary group attempted to topple Russia's military leadership.

According to the Kremlin, Putin and Prigozhin met on June 29, five days after the rebellion ended.
As Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained, 35 people attended the meeting.
"All the commanders were invited, including Prigozhin himself. This meeting was held in the Kremlin on June 29. It lasted almost three hours," Peskov said without giving details of the meeting.

Day 502 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

The mercenary leader who led a short-lived mutiny against the Kremlin is in Russia and his troops are in their field camps, the president of Belarus said Thursday, raising new questions about the deal that ended the extraordinary challenge to President Vladimir Putin's rule.