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Minsk: Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin The Belarusian president said on Thursday that his troops are in St Petersburg and his Wagner troops are staying in the camps where they stayed before a short-lived revolt against Moscow.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko helped broker a deal to end his insurgency on June 24 in return for an amnesty, security guarantees for him and his soldiers, and permission to move to Belarus.
However, few details of the agreement have emerged, and the whereabouts and future of the head of the Wagner Company and his private army remain unclear. The Kremlin has refused to comment on Prigozhin’s location or his movements since the failed revolution.
After saying last week that Prigozhin was in Belarus, Lukashenko told international reporters on Thursday that the mercenary leader was in St Petersburg and that Wagner’s forces were still in their camps.
He did not specify the location of the camps, but Prigozhin’s mercenaries fought alongside Russian forces in eastern Ukraine before their revolt.
His government has offered Wagner, the private military contractor founded by Prigozhin, the use of Belarusian military camps, Lukashenko said, but the company has not made a final decision.
When asked if Prigozhin and his mercenaries were going to move to Belarus, Lukashenko evasively replied that it would depend on the decisions of President Wagner and the Russian government. The Belarusian leader said he did not believe Wagner’s presence in Belarus could destabilize his country.
During their short rebellion, they quickly overran the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and captured the military headquarters there before marching on the Russian capital. Prigozhin called it a “march of justice” to oust Russia’s defense minister and chief of the general staff.
Prigozhin claimed that his forces had come within 200 kilometers (about 125 miles) of Moscow when he ordered them to halt the advance under the deal brokered by Lukashenko.
The failed rebellion represented the biggest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power and exposed the Kremlin’s weakness, eroding Putin’s power.
The Wagner fighters met little resistance, smashing roadblocks now and then and shooting down at least six helicopters and a command post aircraft, killing at least 10 pilots.
Lukashenko’s statement followed Russian media reports that said Prigozhin had been seen in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city. His presence was seen as part of the agreements that allowed him to conclude his affairs there.
Russian media claimed that Prigozhin recovered money seized during raids on his offices and a small arsenal of weapons he kept at his home in Saint Petersburg.
The Russian online newspaper Fontanka has posted videos and photos of Prigozhin’s lavish mansion and some personal items, including a collection of wigs of various colours. It also published a group of selfies that showed him wearing a wig and various foreign uniforms, which clearly reflects the spread of Wagner in Syria and several African countries.
Lukashenko said he had warned Prigozhin that he and his forces would be destroyed if they failed to reach an agreement to end their insurgency and that Belarus would send a brigade to help protect Moscow.
He argued that a rebellion could lead to great bloodshed and plunge Russia into civil war.
“It was necessary to bite him on the bud. It was very serious, as history shows,” Lukashenko said.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko helped broker a deal to end his insurgency on June 24 in return for an amnesty, security guarantees for him and his soldiers, and permission to move to Belarus.
However, few details of the agreement have emerged, and the whereabouts and future of the head of the Wagner Company and his private army remain unclear. The Kremlin has refused to comment on Prigozhin’s location or his movements since the failed revolution.
After saying last week that Prigozhin was in Belarus, Lukashenko told international reporters on Thursday that the mercenary leader was in St Petersburg and that Wagner’s forces were still in their camps.
He did not specify the location of the camps, but Prigozhin’s mercenaries fought alongside Russian forces in eastern Ukraine before their revolt.
His government has offered Wagner, the private military contractor founded by Prigozhin, the use of Belarusian military camps, Lukashenko said, but the company has not made a final decision.
When asked if Prigozhin and his mercenaries were going to move to Belarus, Lukashenko evasively replied that it would depend on the decisions of President Wagner and the Russian government. The Belarusian leader said he did not believe Wagner’s presence in Belarus could destabilize his country.
During their short rebellion, they quickly overran the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and captured the military headquarters there before marching on the Russian capital. Prigozhin called it a “march of justice” to oust Russia’s defense minister and chief of the general staff.
Prigozhin claimed that his forces had come within 200 kilometers (about 125 miles) of Moscow when he ordered them to halt the advance under the deal brokered by Lukashenko.
The failed rebellion represented the biggest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power and exposed the Kremlin’s weakness, eroding Putin’s power.
The Wagner fighters met little resistance, smashing roadblocks now and then and shooting down at least six helicopters and a command post aircraft, killing at least 10 pilots.
Lukashenko’s statement followed Russian media reports that said Prigozhin had been seen in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city. His presence was seen as part of the agreements that allowed him to conclude his affairs there.
Russian media claimed that Prigozhin recovered money seized during raids on his offices and a small arsenal of weapons he kept at his home in Saint Petersburg.
The Russian online newspaper Fontanka has posted videos and photos of Prigozhin’s lavish mansion and some personal items, including a collection of wigs of various colours. It also published a group of selfies that showed him wearing a wig and various foreign uniforms, which clearly reflects the spread of Wagner in Syria and several African countries.
Lukashenko said he had warned Prigozhin that he and his forces would be destroyed if they failed to reach an agreement to end their insurgency and that Belarus would send a brigade to help protect Moscow.
He argued that a rebellion could lead to great bloodshed and plunge Russia into civil war.
“It was necessary to bite him on the bud. It was very serious, as history shows,” Lukashenko said.
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