Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in Russia, says president of Belarus
Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin is in St Petersburg and his Wagner troops have remained at the camps where they had stayed before an abortive mutiny, the president of Belarus said.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko helped broker a deal for Mr Prigozhin to end his rebellion on June 24 in exchange for security guarantees for himself and his soldiers and permission to move to Belarus.
However, few details of the agreement have emerged, and the whereabouts and future of the Wagner company’s chief and his private army have remained unclear.
After saying last week that Mr Prigozhin was in Belarus, Mr Lukashenko told international reporters on Thursday that the mercenary chief is in St Petersburg and Wagner troops were still at their camps.
He did not specify the location of the camps, but Mr Prigozhin’s mercenaries fought alongside Russian forces in Ukraine before their revolt.
During their short revolt, they quickly swept over the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and captured military headquarters there before marching on the Russian capital. Mr Prigozhin described it as a “march of justice” to oust the Russian defence minister and the general staff chief.
Mr Prigozhin claimed his troops had come within 124 miles of Moscow when he ordered them to stop the advance under the deal brokered by Mr Lukashenko.
The 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 Mr Putin’s authority.
Mr Lukashenko’s statement followed Russian media reports that claimed Mr Prigozhin was spotted in St Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city.
His presence was seen as part of agreements that allowed him to finalise his affairs in the city.
Russian media outlets claimed Mr Prigozhin retrieved cash that was confiscated during raids of his offices and a small arsenal of weapons he kept at his home in St Petersburg.
Russian online newspaper Fontanka posted videos and photos of Mr Prigozhin’s opulent mansion and some personal items, including a collection of wigs of various colours.
It also published a collection of selfies that showed him posing in various wigs and foreign uniforms, an apparent reflection of Wagner’s deployments to Syria and several African countries.
Asked if Mr Prigozhin and his mercenaries were going to move to Belarus, Mr Lukashenko answered evasively that it would depend on the decisions taken by the Wagner chief and the Russian government.
The president said he does not think Wagner’s presence in Belarus could lead to the destabilisation of his country.
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