By: Kevin Zhou

A military group that worked for Russia decided to attack the country instead of helping the state.

When Putin started fighting in the war, he was using only Russia’s own soldiers, but soon after, another group of fighters came to help. These people were part of a company called the Wagner Group, and they had thousands of soldiers. Putin asked these soldiers to do many things that he didn’t ask Russian soldiers to do. This group is led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former convict in the Soviet Union, who has spent time in prison.

A new rule was created recently, stating that the Wagner Group had to join the Russian army. Prigozhin didn’t like this rule, as it would mean that he would have to lose control of his soldiers. Because of this, he called for a “march for justice”, where he then sent 25,000 soldiers to take control of the city Rostov-on-Don and military bases there. After that he threatened to advance to Moscow if they didn’t give up their top two military leaders. Putin then replied that he would punish everyone involved. The soldiers began their long journey to Moscow. Although Russia’s military damaged the roads to prevent them from getting to Moscow, they still got within 120 miles of Moscow.

On Saturday night, Putin and Prigozhin came to an agreement. Wagner’s soldiers would go back to Ukraine, and none of them would be punished. The people who didn’t rebel could join Russia’s military. Prigozhin also agreed to live in Belarus.