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June 28 () –
The Russian authorities have recalled this Wednesday that no Russian citizen is subject to extradition to another country, thus ruling out the possibility that the leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeni Prigozhin, could be sent to the United States to be held accountable for the crimes of which he he is accused.
“Any Russian citizen (…) has the right to count on Russia’s assistance to protect him in illegal attempts to bring him to criminal responsibility abroad,” said the spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, when questioned by the possibility of Prigozhin being extradited to the United States.
The spokesman for the US State Department, Matthew Miller, acknowledged yesterday that Washington would like to see the leader of the Wagner Group before the US courts facing the “crimes of which he is accused” both in Ukraine and in Africa. , where the organization is present.
The Wagner Group, led by Prigozhin, began a rebellion late on Friday with the seizure of the Russian city of Rostov, headquarters of the Army’s southern command, with the intention of heading towards Moscow to ask the Ministry of Defense for explanations. Defense for allegedly killing his men in a bombing.
In full conflict with the Kremlin and a few hundred kilometers from Moscow, the convoy turned around on Saturday afternoon thanks to the mediation of the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, in an agreement to stop the revolt, amnesty the mercenaries and send the exile to Belarus to Prigozhin.
Questioned about this matter, Zajarova has stressed that Russia will resolve the situation with Prigozhin and his mercenaries “without external comments.” “Those who wanted to express their support, expressed it; those who wanted to help, helped. We will remember all this, we take note and we will not forget it,” she said.
