Three weeks after a brief mutiny in Russia by the Wagner mercenary group, President Vladimir V. Putin said its troops could keep fighting, but without their controversial leader, while the government of Belarus said some Wagner fighters were there, training its forces.
But the Russian leader made clear that he intends to sideline the Wagner boss Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, who directed the uprising.
Mr. Putin, in an interview published late on Thursday, gave an account of a three-hour meeting in the Kremlin, just days after the uprising, with Mr. Prigozhin and his top commanders.
He said he had praised Wagner fighters for their military feats, and suggested that a different Wagner leader take over from Mr. Prigozhin, according to Kommersant, a Russian business daily that, along with a journalist from state television, conducted the interview.
He said he told the Wagner troops that he “regretted that they had appeared dragged” into the mutiny, appearing to pin the blame on Mr. Prigozhin.
Persons:
Wagner, Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Mr, “, ”
Organizations:
Kremlin, Kommersant
Locations:
Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Russian