Criminal case against Wagner boss Prigoschin dropped Before it is discharged into the sea: Fukushima cooling water is inspected one last time

Following the uprising of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner army, the criminal case against him has ended, the Kremlin has announced.

In view of the end of the “criminal acts”, the procedure initiated on Friday has now been discontinued, the Russian state news agency TASS reported on Tuesday, citing the domestic secret service FSB. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin said pilots who attacked Wagner’s column on their way to Moscow were also killed. Several helicopters and an airplane were shot down.

Mercenary boss Prigozhin surprisingly halted his advance on Moscow after negotiations on Saturday. He said he wanted to prevent bloodshed among Russian soldiers and therefore returned 200 kilometers from the Russian capital. His men had also occupied the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and retreated there as well.

Renegade Wagner are “traitors”

President Putin confirmed on Monday evening that his disgraced ex-confidant can find shelter with his fighters in Belarus. He described the renegade Wagnerian people as “traitors”. It was initially unclear whether Prigozhin was already in Belarus. Putin offered the loyal part of the Wagner squad to sign contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry.

Putin said in a speech on Saturday that the masterminds of the uprising would receive their “inevitable punishment”. The fact that the Kremlin later declared that the rebels would come away unscathed after the uprising ended and the withdrawal from Russia aroused astonishment in the vast empire.

Anyone who criticizes Putin’s war against Ukraine, no matter how small, risks years of imprisonment in Russia. Commentators interpreted Putin’s concession as weakness on the part of the Kremlin chief. (aeg/sda/dpa)