Whereabouts of mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin still unknown

Mr Prigozhin’s short-lived insurrection over the weekend, the biggest challenge to Mr Putin’s rule in more than two decades in power, has rattled Russia’s leadership

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company (Prighozin Press Service/AP)

The whereabouts of mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin remained a mystery after Russian President Vladimir Putin once again blasted organisers of a weekend rebellion as traitors who played into the hands of Ukraine’s government and its allies.

The Kremlin has said Mr Prigozhin would be exiled to neighbouring Belarus, but neither he nor the Belarusian authorities have confirmed that.