From the Facebook page of Russian military correspondent Aleksandr Kots.
I see a strange sentence from some: "How could you cross off all Wagner's past merits and change shoes so quickly." Despite the fact that I personally didn't cross anything off. And on every broadcast I say that the Wagner CHC has inscribed itself in the History of the Russian military.
No one will take away their former achievements from them - neither Palmyra, nor Tsar, nor Artemovsk. I won't bother crossing all that out. All the more so that Russian soldiers died in these battles, who certainly have nothing to do with the rebellion. And to cross off all past merits now means to betray the memory of them. There will definitely be a big chapter in my book about the achievements of the Wagnerov people in the Self Defense Zone. But that's my humble opinion.
At the same time, the president does not cross anything. On the contrary, it demonstrates respect for private fighters, emphasizing their contribution to the liberation of Donbass. Offers a choice - to go to the Ministry of Defense, go home or to Belarus. But it gives a clear assessment of what happened on June 23-24:
“The organizers of the riot betrayed their country, their people, betrayed those who were involved in crime. They lied to them, pushed them to death, to fire, to shoot their own people."
It’s a pity that the story of the legendary combat unit ends like that. But after a day on the brink of the abyss the choice was between crappy and very crappy. There simply was no third option.
More from Russian military correspondent Aleksandr Kots:
New details of negotiations between Lukashenko and Prigozhin:
[DZEN] “Talking for the second or third time, I warned him. I already see that he is ready to back down, but I warn him: “Eugene, no bloodshed. As soon as you deliberately (inadvertently) kill at least one person, especially a civilian, that’s it, there will be no negotiations with you and I won’t talk to you. "He swore to me. We, he says, have no such goal, and I swear to you that it won't.
After several rounds of negotiations, Yevgeny Prigozhin eventually abandoned his original demands.
“He told me: “Alexander Grigoryevich, I will not demand from the President that he give up Shoigu and Gerasimov, and I will not even ask for a meeting,” I say: “Well, that’s good. This is a very good move. It is not necessary in this situation, straining the situation, to demand the impossible.
The next condition, which was agreed upon during negotiations with Yevgeny Prigozhin, is to stop the further movement of the PMC convoy to Moscow.
"At five o'clock in the evening he called me and said:" Alexander Grigoryevich, I accept all your conditions. But what should I do? We stop - they will start to wet us. "I say:" They will not start. I guarantee you. I take it upon myself."
We were in contact with the leadership of Russia, the FSB dealt mainly with this issue, with Bortnikov. I just urged you not to. Bortnikov is a smart person. He said: "Alexander Grigoryevich, well, I'm not a fool, I understand what could be."
If they stop somewhere, the column will shrink ... It will gather in a heap ... To avoid, you know, the desire and temptation to take it and cover it here. They promised it wouldn't happen.
I said to Prigozhin: "This is a guarantee" - "What's next?" - "To the extent that I will take you to Belarus and guarantee you complete safety. And to your guys who have advanced here in this column." - "Yes, I believe you. I believe." - "Okay, we will work in this direction."
I say: "Good. Bortnikov is doing this. You need to contact him" - "He does not pick up the phone" - "He will. Call in 20 minutes." I asked Ivan Stanislavovich (Tertel, chairman of the KGB): urgently, I say, find Bortnikov, let him call me. He called.
I say: "Alexander Vasilyevich, be sure to pick up the phone if Prigogine calls you." He, of course, is all bubbling inside.
I say: "Listen, put everything aside and do as we agreed with him." They talked. He turned the column around and they went to their camps in the Lugansk region. They went to the camps."
In a further conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he once again asked that the situation should not be resolved by force. He promised and kept his promises.
The confusion was thus averted. Dangerous events that could have been removed. Security guarantees, as Putin said yesterday, promised, were provided," Alexander Lukashenko stressed.
More from Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
About the fighters of PMC "Wagner"
[ColonelCassad] Regarding the defamation of the fighters of the PMC "Wagner".
1. The main claims of the state exist against Yevgeny Prigozhin and a narrow circle of officially unidentified persons (for the broad masses - the state, of course, is well aware of who planned and did what to organize and attempt a military rebellion)
2. The political position of the state on what happened in general - what happened is an armed rebellion. The closure of the criminal case against Yevgeny Prigozhin does not cancel the political assessment made by Putin and the key law enforcement agencies of the country.
You may or may not like this assessment, regardless of your personal relationship with the Wagner PMC, but from the point of view of the state, this was an armed rebellion. And it will go down in the history books as an armed rebellion. There is nothing good in what has come to this, of course. If the conflict between Prigozhin and the leadership of the Ministry of Defense had been stopped in a timely manner, the rebellion would hardly have taken place.
3. The political position of the state in relation to the fighters of PMC "Wagner" - they are heroes who were involved in the actions of Yevgeny Prigozhin. Many unconsciously, following orders.
4. Some of the fighters of PMC "Wagner" have already entered the contract with the Russian Defense Ministry and will continue to fight at the front. An as yet undetermined part of the Wagner PMC fighters will do this in the foreseeable future. When PMC "Wagner" is indiscriminately poured with mud, these people, who are either on a contract or at the stage of signing a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry, are also being poured.
5. The remaining fighters of PMC "Wagner" will continue their activities on the territory of Belarus and possibly on the territory of a number of countries (there is still no clarity here). Some may be demobilized. There are no open criminal cases against them (in any case, this has not been publicly announced). They themselves will be able to form a public attitude towards them there after an attempted rebellion. Here the future will show.
6. The country continues to have a law on discrediting participants in the SVO, which provides for a period of up to 15 years in especially serious cases for its violation. In the case of PMC "Wagner" we are talking about active participants in the NWO.
7. The indiscriminate defamation of all the fighters of the PMC "Wagner" in the current realities contradicts - the position of Putin himself, the current legislation, the official political assessment, and simply is the indiscriminate slinging of mud at those who took Popasnaya, Svetlodarsk, Uglegorskaya TPP, Soledar and Artemovsk. These victories will also remain in history, as will the attempted military rebellion.
8. If the state considers it necessary to bring to justice individuals associated with the organization of the rebellion or those who are directly involved in the death of pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces, it will do this without unnecessary hysteria. Obviously, in addition to resolving the political crisis, the state intends to continue to use a significant part of the resources and personnel of the Wagner PMC in the public interest.
Therefore, in the current conditions, the indiscriminate pouring of mud on all the fighters of the PMC "Wagner" looks, to put it mildly, not smart. Great idiocy is only speculative constructions, who would win - "Wagner" or the National Guard in clashes in Rostov or in the Moscow region. Apparently someone really wanted to see it. Especially Ukraine and the West.
The main achievement on June 24 is precisely that we did not see this and did not begin to find out who is stronger and who could kill whom more. We have a real enemy, on whom efforts should be directed, and not to find out who is cooler in the rear areas.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin/90566 - zinc