Russia’s Defence Ministry: PMC Wagner hands over military equipment and ammunition to Russian forces

Russia’s Armed Forces have received over 2,000 items of equipment and armaments from units of Wagner Group, as per the Russian Defence Ministry.

According to the released statement, the items include T-90, T-80, T-72B3 tanks, Grad and Uragan multiple-launch rocket systems, Pantsir surface-to-air missile systems, 2S1 Gvozdika 122 mm self-propelled artillery systems, 2S3 Akatsiya 152 mm, 2S5 Giatsint 152 mm, 2S4 Tulpan 240 mm, howitzers and anti-tank guns, mortar systems, multipurpose armoured tractors, armoured personnel carriers, as well as motor vehicles and small arms.

“Among the transferred equipment, dozens of units have never been used in combat conditions,” the ministry claimed, adding that over 2,500 tonnes of ammunition and about 20,000 small arms have also been received from PMC Wagner.

On 3 July, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu commented on the 23-24 June rebellion attempted by the chief of PMC Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin. According to the minister, Prigozhin’s attempt failed due to “the loyalty of servicemen to their oaths” and “military duty”.

Media outlet Fontanka previously reported that Prigozhin had retrieved all cash and gold bars seized during the searches conducted in his St. Petersburg offices by law enforcement officers. According to the media outlet, 10 billion rubles (€102 million) and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash along with five gold bars were returned to Prigozhin on the evening of 2 July. Later, Fontanka claimed that Prigozhin had personally visited St. Petersburg on 4 July to collect weapons that had been seized during a search of his offices, including a custom-engraved Glock that he had received from Shoigu.