Belarussian President: Wagner Group Chief is in Russia

By Staff, Agencies

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko announced on Thursday that Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was still in Russia, despite reports that he had arrived in Minsk on June 27.

The Wagner group’s deal with the Kremlin, after its aborted uprising in June, was that its leader moved to Belarus and the mercenaries absorbed into the army. However, Lukashenko told reporters “as far as Prigozhin is concerned, he is in Saint Petersburg. He is not in Belarus.”

Prigozhin’s last message to the public was a call for support. He did not, however, provide any further information about his future plans or his whereabouts. Though his plane was spotted on June 27 at the military airport near Minsk.

“Today more than ever we need your support. Thank you for that. I want you to understand that our march of justice was aimed at fighting traitors and mobilizing our society. And I think we have achieved a lot of it,” Prigozhin said.

The Wagner chief’s previous recording was on June 26, claiming he didn’t plan to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He added that it was never intended for there to be Russian bloodshed, nor for it to be a coup, instead he called “the aim of the march was to avoid destruction of Wagner” and to hold top military officials accountable.