Wagner Group recruitment centres reopen in 2 Russian cities
Wagner Group recruitment centres have reopened in at least two Russian cities, Tyumen and Novosibirsk, following the mutiny staged by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Source: TASS, a pro-Kremlin Russian news outlet; Meduza, a Latvia-based Russian news outlet
Details: Wagner Group advertisements have been hung at the entrance to the private military company’s recruitment centre in Novosibirsk; the centre was closed and the ad banners were taken down on Saturday, 24 June.
Wagner Group’s Tyumen headquarters announced they were operating "by appointment".
It remains unclear in what shape or form Wagner Group will exist following the insurrection staged by its fighters on 23-24 June. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Wagnerites who had taken part in the insurrection would not be prosecuted given their "achievements at the front"; some fighters would also be able to sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defence [and join the regular Russian army], Peskov claimed.
Background:
- On the evening of 23 June, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that the regular Russian army had launched a missile strike on the Wagner mercenaries’ rear camps. He has therefore deployed 25,000 of his mercenaries "to restore justice".
- The Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case against Yevgeny Prigozhin for "organising an armed rebellion". Article 279 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, under which he is being charged, provides for between 12 and 20 years’ imprisonment.
- The Russian government later promised to close the criminal case against Prigozhin, but on the morning of Monday, 26 June, the media reported that this had not happened yet.
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