Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko reveals that Prigozhin is still in Russia and not in Belarus as previously agreed, raising questions about the deal to end the mercenary leader’s mutiny last month. But the Kremlin replied by saying it was “not following” Prigozhin’s movements…
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is still in Russia, Belarus’s president said Thursday, raising questions about the deal to end the mercenary leader’s mutiny last month.
Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko mediated a deal to end Prigozhin’s revolt, the most severe challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule, that was to see the mercenary head into Belarusian exile.
“As far as Prigozhin is concerned, he is in Saint Petersburg… He is not in Belarus,” Lukashenko, who has ruled isolated Belarus for nearly three decades, told reporters from foreign media outlets in Minsk.
Speaking in the presidential palace, Lukashenko said he knew “for sure” that Prigozhin was a free man, adding: “I spoke to him on the phone yesterday.”
The Kremlin replied by saying it was “not following” Prigozhin’s movements, nearly two weeks after the June 23rd mutiny that saw armed fighters on the march toward Moscow.
Lukashenko said that members of Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group have yet to establish a base in Belarus, despite an offer from the Kremlin for those who took part in the failed mutiny to do so.
“At the moment, the question of their transfer and set-up has not been decided,” Lukashenko said.
Images broadcast by Russian media on Wednesday showed police entering Prigozhin’s residence, a vast and luxurious mansion with a helicopter parked on the grounds, reportedly on June 25th.
Miroslava Salazar with AFP
