Yevgeny Prigozhin published a new audio recording on Saturday, announcing that he was asking his Wagner Group to halt its march toward Moscow. Social media users are speculating that the apparent coup was Russia President Vladimir Putin’s plan all along.
“We turning our columns around and going back in the other direction toward our field camps, in accordance with the plan,” Prigozhin said in a message on Telegram. The Belarusian government claimed that President Alexander Lukashenko had helped the negotiation with the Wagner chief.
“This morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin briefed his Belarusian counterpart on the situation in southern Russia with the private military company Wagner. The heads of state agreed on joint actions. As a follow-up to the agreements, the President of Belarus, having being additionally informed on the situation through his own channels, and in agreement with the President of Russia, held talks with the head of Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin,” the statement read.
“Yevgeny Prigozhin accepted the proposal of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to stop the movement of armed persons of the Wagner company on the territory of Russia and take further steps to de-escalate tensions.”
Also Read: Wagner Group rebellion against Putin in Russia compared to Taliban takeover of Afghanistan
However, Twitter users said that the rebellion was all show.
“So Yevgeny Prigozhin has stopped his coup on Russia all over sudden? 😂😂 Vladimir Putin has just fooled his enemies once again. President Putin is smart,” a Twitter user said.
“This is not a coup by Prigozhin. This is an inner war between the St Petersburg gang of Putin and the Moscow gang of Gerasimov and Shoigu. This is the beginning of Putin‘s election campaign to become reelected on March 17, 2024. His lapdog Prigozhin is masquerading a coup to put the blame on Gerasimov and Shoigu for losing the war against Ukraine. Prigozhin can always be scapegoated if he fails like this has happened in the past. #geopolitics #Velsig,” another one added.
Meanwhile, former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev accused Wagner of a “staged coup d’état,” state media RIA Novosti reported.
“The development of events shows that the actions of the people who organized the military rebellion fully fit into the scheme of a staged coup d’état,” RIA Novosti reported, quoting Medvedev.
The state-owned outlet said that Medvedev also d
