Wagner Group Fallout

Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a statement yesterday reiterated the private mercenary group didn't seek to overthrow the Russian government over the weekend, but rather protect the group from the country's military.

Prigozhin's statement was the first since the Wagner Group's short-lived mutiny (see our previous write-up). He said the group's march toward Moscow was in response to Russia's defense ministry ordering mercenaries to sign contracts with the military by July 1, thereby dismantling the Wagner Group. Prigozhin further said the group had planned to hand over military weapons it was using in the war against Ukraine by June 30, but the military's alleged attack on Wagner forces pushed them to act.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an address to his nation Monday night, noted Wagner mercenaries could sign contracts with the defense ministry or head to Belarus as part of a brokered deal. See all updates on the war here.