Wagner Paramilitary Insurgency Eases, This Is A Statement By The Russian Government

Wagner's private mercenaries are seen on a tank on the road near the South Military District headquarters in the town of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, (24/6/2023). (Between/Reuters/Stringer)

JAKARTA - Road traffic restrictions imposed following the armed uprising of the Wagner paramilitary group against Moscow have been lifted, the Russian Federal Road Transport Agency (Rosavtodor) told the media on Sunday.

The restrictions have been lifted, Rosavtodor announced, as quoted by Russia's TASS news agency, quoted by Antara.

The Russian government previously imposed road traffic restrictions after Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin announced that he would deploy his troops to Moscow.

The Kremlin -as the Russian government calls - responded to the announcement by increasing security measures in various regions of the country.

But when they were 200 kilometers from Moscow, Prigozhin later said his fighters decided to step down to avoid bloodshed in Russia.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he had held talks with Wagner leaders. According to him, Prigozhin accepted the deescalation agreement.

Wagner on Friday (23/6) accused Russian troops of attacking his fighters, and prompting the paramilitary group to flee Ukraine to Russia's Rostov-on-Don City in Russia.

In response to the situation, the Federal Security Service in Russia opened a criminal case against Wagner on charges of "armed rebellion".

Russian President Vladimir Putin called Wagner's rebellion an act of "traisal".

However, the Kremlin announced that Russia would not punish or criminalize members of Wagner's forces who were involved in the armed uprising.