Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that the financial records of Yevgeny Prgozhin, the mercenary leader who led the Wagner mercenaries in their mutiny against the Russian government, would be examined. He said Wagner and its founder received nearly $2 billion dollars from Russia over the last year.

Putin at first vowed that he would crush the mutiny. He compared it to the turmoil of wartime in 1917, which led to revolutions and civil wars. But hours later, a deal had been clinched allowing Prigozhin to travel to Belarus with some of his fighters.

Putin told soldiers of the Russian army that he has always respected Wagner’s fighters but that the group was “fully funded” by the state budget.

He claimed that the ministry of defense had given him 86 billion Russian roubles (about $1 billion) between May 2022 to May 2023.

Putin also said that Prigozhin’s Concord catering company earned 80 billion roubles through state contracts for the supply of food to Russian soldiers.

I hope no one has stolen anything or stole less as part of the work. We will investigate everything, of course.

Prigozhin – who Putin did not name – could not be immediately reached for a comment about Putin’s remarks.

He claimed earlier this year that, although he has always funded Wagner, he sought additional funding after the start of the Ukrainian war.

He claimed on Monday that he was not trying to overthrow Russia’s state, but rather he was a patriot trying to settle scores. ($1 = 85.4705 roubles)