Russian Defense Minister Shoigu returns to the public eye after unexplained absence
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu appeared in a video shared by the Russian Defense Ministry on June 26, following a mutiny led by Wagner mercenary company leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who had demanded his resignation.
Rumors have swirled throughout social media that Shoigu would be replaced at the Ministry of Defense, in line with Prigozhin’s declarations.
However, in the newly shared video, the MoD claims that Shoigu had allegedly conducted an inspection of a “forward control point” of the western group of occupation forces in Ukraine. The date the footage was filmed on has not been established.
Since the evening of June 23, when Prigozhin announced his "march on Moscow" and the beginning of armed conflict with the Russian Defense Ministry, supposedly in response to the Russian army striking the mercenaries' "rear camp," Shoigu has not made a single statement and had not appeared in the news for three days.
On the evening of June 24, Prigozhin left Rostov-on-Don, where Wagner forces had earlier taken control of the city’s main military facilities within a matter of hours. He stated that he was halting the march on Moscow and would return the Wagner units "to the field camps according to the plan."
The press service of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claimed that Lukashenko had been in negotiations with Prigozhin throughout the day and that the latter had agreed to "halt movement through the territory of Russia," with his militants being promised "security guarantees" in return.
The Kremlin stated that the case of Prigozhin's armed rebellion would be closed, the Wagner units would return to "rear camps," and Prigozhin himself would go to Belarus.
Prigozhin has not made a statement for over 24 hours. His press service stated that he was "currently unreachable."
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