The Wagner mercenary group is no longer playing a “significant” role in Russia’s war against Ukraine, the US has said.
The group had been fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukriane, until a fortnight ago when it staged a short-lived attempted uprising, led by founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.
On Wednesday, Russia’s defense ministry said Wagner was completing its handover of weapons to Russia’s regular armed forces.
“At this stage, we do not see Wagner forces participating in any significant capacity in support of combat operations in Ukraine,” said Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Brigadier General Patrick Ryder.
Wagner fighters had waged some of the fiercest and bloodiest battles during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Prigozhin has a long-simmering conflict with the Russian military’s top brass.
This culminated in the revolt on June 23 and 24, when Prigozhin and his Wagner group took control of the Russian city of Rostov in what Russian president Vladimir Putin branded a “treasonous mutiny”.
Prigozhin ended the mutiny after a deal was brokered, in which it was agreed he would be exiled to Belarus.
But Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko revealed last week Prigozhin is in Russia.
“As for Prigozhin, he’s in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus,” Mr Lukashenko told reporters last Thursday.
Wagner fighters were given the option of going into exile, joining Russia’s regular forces, or going home.
Critics have said the attempted uprising by Mr Prigozhin, though short-lived, exposed ”real cracks” in Putin’s authority.
