The Kremlin revealed today Monday that the Russian president Vladimir Putin met with the head of the Wagner mercenary organization Yevgeny Prigozhin on June 29, five days after its fighters advanced on Moscow in a brief mutiny.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin invited “35 persons” to the meeting, including unit commanders, and that it lasted three hours. Wagner commanders told Putin that they are his own soldiers and how they will continue to fight for him, said Peskov.

Putin assessed the frontline paramilitary group’s actions and the events of June 24 during the meeting with the group’s head and commanders, the Kremlin spokesman said.

The brief insurgency under Prigozhin, in which Wagner fighters took control of the southern city of Rostov, brought Putin face-to-face with the more serious challenge since he took power in Russia.

Their rebellion ended with an agreement brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Putin has since thanked his military and security forces for averting chaos and civil war.

The Kremlin “reinvented” Valery Gerasimov

The Kremlin “resurrected” the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Army earlier Valery Gerasimov, denying reports of his impeachment following the mutiny of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group on June 24. Peskov

In a video released on the Russian Defense Ministry’s Telegram channel, Gerasimov is seen in the general staff room on Sunday being briefed on the missile attacks launched by Ukraine’s Rostov and Kaluga.

“Commander of the joint forces group, Army General Valery Gerasimov heard a report from the Chief of the General Staff of the Aerospace Forces, Colonel Viktor Afzalov, about the destruction of four Ukrainian ballistic targets” mentions, among other things, an announcement by the Ministry of Defense about the Chief of Staff. It cannot be ascertained whether the video was indeed shot on Sunday.

For the first time since the beginning of the #Prigozhin rebellion, the head of the General Staff of the Russian Federation, #Gerasimovappeared in public.

In the Western press and among the Russian “military correspondents” it is alleged that he was removed after the… pic.twitter.com/pLYvVl9G5I

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) July 10, 2023

“Putin is in a difficult position”

The decision of the Russian President Vladimir Putin not immediately disbanding the Wagner Group and prosecuting those involved in the uprising is putting himself and his subordinates in a “difficult position,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in an analysis.

Wagner is reportedly still recruiting inside Russia, while the Russian Foreign Ministry is reportedly conducting a “competitive effort” to recruit its fighters to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense.

“Putin’s decision not to expel the Wagner Group — previously Russia’s most combative force — makes it difficult for Putin and other Russian power players to figure out how to interact with the Wagner Group, its leaders and fighters.” comments ISW.

The rebellion of his mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin has further split the Russian opposition, which is already largely divided over a range of issues, the Moscow Times reports.