Wagner, the private army of mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, has handed over a large amount of heavy weapons, military equipment and thousands of tons of ammunition to the Russian Defence Ministry.
Among them were T-90 and T-80 tanks, multiple rocket launchers and numerous artillery systems, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow on Wednesday. In addition, Wagner had handed over 2,500 tons of ammunition of various types and 20,000 firearms, he said.
The military leadership released a video of the heavy weapons. All the military equipment will now be serviced and then "put to its intended use," Konashenkov said.
Wagner has repeatedly captured territory, including the town of Bakhmut, in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, which has been going on for more than 16 months. Last month, however, Prigozhin instigated an uprising against Moscow.
He ended the rebellion on June 24, with his forces less than 200 kilometres from Moscow, following the mediation of Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko. In return, he and his fighters were promised immunity from prosecution.
A few days later, Prigozhin and dozens of his Wagner commanders met President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin did not give any details about the results of the meeting. During the uprising, Putin had spoken of "treason."
