Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that the Wagner Group has handed over thousands of tons of weapons, ammunition and military equipment to the Russian army, in the latest sign that Moscow is still working to break up the mercenaries’ influence following their dramatic and short-lived mutiny last month.
The Washington Post was unable to verify the video or confirm that the weapons featured were used by the Wagner Group.
But the claim suggests that Wagner is fulfilling its side of the agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Wagner boss Yevgeniy Prigozhin to end the rebellion. In the deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a Putin ally, Prigozhin abandoned his “March for Justice” on Moscow and agreed to hand over Wagner’s stockpiles in exchange for safe passage to exile in Belarus.
Wagner forces were spotted during the rebellion carrying antiaircraft weapons. The mercenaries, who have fought alongside the Russian army in Ukraine, shot down six Russian helicopters and a transport plane.
“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, in accordance with the plan, are completing the acceptance of weapons and military equipment from units of the Wagner Group,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement. “Among the transferred equipment, dozens of units have never been used in combat conditions.”
The claim about unused equipment appeared to be an attempt to undermine complaints by Prigozhin that the ministry had starved Wagner’s forces of ammunition during its offensives in eastern Ukraine.
“What are the words of Yevgeniy Prigozhin worth saying that they did not give ammunition?” the Russian war correspondent Alexander Sladkov asked on Telegram.
“In addition, the Wagner Group had two warehouses in Russia, they also came under the control of the Ministry of Defense,” he wrote. “There are more than 1,100 tons of ammunition in Voronezh alone. If we translate the last figure into shells, 1100 tons is approximately equal to 25,000 shells.”
But Prigozhin supporters defended him, saying such an amount would be consumed on the battlefield in a matter of days.
“According to Yevgeniy Prigozhin, about 6,000 shells per day were needed to advance at least 100-200 meters a day in the Artemovsky direction,” one blogger wrote. “A total of 25,000 is an expense for 4-5 days.”
The pro-Prigozhin Wagner Orchestra channel, meanwhile, reminded readers of his claim that ammunition was being consumed two and a half times more in Bakhmut than the Battle of Stalingrad, the catastrophic World War II confrontation between Soviet and Nazi forces.
“Yevgeniy Prigozhin repeatedly reported that this amount of ammunition could be enough for several days of heavy fighting in Bakhmut at the final stage,” the poster wrote. “The current conflict in Ukraine is a difficult war, where artillery plays the main role at the forefront.”
A senior Russian official said Wednesday that Gen. Sergei Surovikin, who has not been seen in public since the mutiny, was “currently resting” and “not available right now.”
Russian media have reported that Surovikin, who has had a close relationship with Prigozhin, was interrogated by Russian security forces at an undisclosed location over those ties.
The future of the Wagner Group remains unclear. The news this week that Putin met with Prigozhin five days after the mutiny suggested that details of the agreement were still being hammered out.
Lukashenko, the Belarusian leader, said last week that Prigozhin had returned to Russia. A businessman in St. Petersburg, Prigozhin’s hometown, said the Wagner boss had visited to reclaim money and weapons seized by the Russian government.
Putin said Wagner fighters could sign contracts with the Defense Ministry, relocate to Belarus or go home. Satellite imagery has revealed a camp being built in Belarus, but neither Wagner nor Lukashenko has confirmed that it would serve as a new base for the mercenaries. Thousands of Wagner fighters are still believed to be based in Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine.
Mercenary service is illegal in Russia, but Wagner started taking part in the war a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The group has been a key assault force, responsible for the few battlefield wins Russia has achieved in recent months.
Robyn Dixon and Mary Ilyushina contributed to this report.