Wagner surrenders tonnes of weapons to Russian Defence Ministry following failed mutiny

The Wagner Group has surrendered thousands of tonnes of weapons and ammunition to the Russian Defence Ministry following the failed mutiny. The ministry said that it has received more than 2,000 pieces of equipment that includes hundreds of tanks. The group has also handed over more than 2,500 tonnes of ammunition. The handover indicates that Wagner chief Yevgeny Prighozin is abiding by some of the deals brokered with the Kremlin last month after he led an all-out mutiny against Russia’s Defence Ministry, which later failed. Last month, the Wagner group receded their steps from Moscow after reaching halfway to ‘ avoid bloodshed ,’ hence effectively aborting his mutiny plan. A deal to halt further movement of Wagner fighters across Russia in return for guarantees of safety for the rebels was brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, his office said. Russian authorities also dropped charges on the Wagner group after Lukashenko struck a deal between the two parties. Following the deal, Prighozin had reportedly travelled to Belarus as part of his promised exile. On 27 June, a jet purportedly belonging to Prighozin landed in Belarus. According to the flight tracking website Flightradar24, an Embraer Legacy 600 jet carrying the identification codes that match a plane linked to Prigozhin in US sanctions documents landed near the Belarusian capital of Minsk. The current whereabouts of the Wagner chief, however, are unknown with flight data of his private jet indicating multiple travels between Moscow and St Petersburg.