Putin Paid $1 Billion to Wagner Group Before Mutiny

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said Moscow had paid the Wagner Group around $1 billion over the past year.

Putin's admission of funding the mercenary group follows Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's weekend rebellion against Russia. The mercenary boss claimed Russia's military had killed about 30 Wagner troops in a missile strike, and he ordered his men to march on Moscow. The brief mutiny ended after peace was brokered on the agreement that Kremlin charges would be dropped against Prigozhin if he agreed to go into exile in Belarus.

At one time, the Kremlin denied the existence of the Wagner Group, and Putin's chief spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, referred to Prigozhin as a "citizen of Russia" and an "entrepreneur" when questioned in October 2022 about the mercenary leader. However, Putin on Tuesday said Russia had "fully funded" Wagner over the course of a year.

"The state paid to the Wagner Group 86.262 billion rubles [approximately $1 billion] for salaries for fighters and incentive rewards between May 2022 and May 2023 alone," Putin said Tuesday, according to the Agence France-Presse.

Putin said, "The content of the entire Wagner group was fully provided by the state, from the Ministry of Defense, from the state budget. We fully funded this group."

AFP reported that Putin made the comments about paying Wagner during televised remarks to Russian defense officials.

The Russian leader said authorities would probe how the money given to Wagner was spent. He also said Prigozhin had made about the same amount of money from his food and catering business as he had from payments made by the Ministry of Defense.

In other remarks made on Tuesday outside the Kremlin to members of the Russian military, Putin praised the soldiers for their efforts in preventing a "civil war" during Wagner's armed rebellion. A moment of silence was also held for Russian army pilots who were shot down and killed by Wagner troops. Putin did not say how many pilots had died, but pro-Kremlin bloggers have written that at least a dozen were killed.

Despite this public show from Putin, Guy McCardle—managing editor of Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP)—told Newsweek that he feels Prigozhin's uprising could result in Putin being removed from office.

"The average Russian wants the war to end, it is wrecking their economy and killing their friends and family," McCardle said. "Perhaps Prigozhin's act of defiance will be enough to make others take up the cause to overthrow the longtime Russian strongman."

Meanwhile, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced on Tuesday that Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus.

"I see Prigozhin is already flying in on this plane," Lukashenko said, according to the Belarusian state news agency BelTA. "Yes, indeed, he is in Belarus today."

BelTA reported that Lukashenko said he hopes Wagner commanders will help his military improve its skills by sharing their battle tips. He said commanders with frontline experience can teach Belarusian soldiers about certain weapons as well as tactics regarding attacks and defense.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.