Less than 12 hours after telling the nation that the organizers of an armed rebellion would face justice, Vladimir Putin appears to have had yet another change of heart.
The flip-flopping president looks set to allow Yevgeny Prigozhin to get away with mounting an insurrection on Russian soil—which reportedly killed up to 39 service members—after the FSB announced that it was dropping all charges against Wagner.
Bizarrely, the press service of the FSB said Tuesday that the case had been dropped because investigators determined that those taking part in the armed uprising “stopped the actions directly aimed at committing a crime.”
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(In other words, armed rebellion is totally fine as long as the rebels stop midway through. But criticizing the war against Ukraine on social media can still get you tossed in prison for years.)
Prigozhin was not named specifically but it was reported that the entire case is now closed.
In his second address to the nation in three days, Putin had pledged Monday night that the leaders of the plot would be punished. “The organizers of this rebellion... [will] be brought to justice,” he said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry was also quoted telling the TASS news agency that Wagner is preparing to hand over its heavy military equipment to units of the regular Armed Forces. It was not immediately clear if that may be part of a behind-the-scenes deal to have charges dropped.
