Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is in Russia and Putin will not ‘wipe’ him out – Belarus chief

Belarusian chief Alexander Lukashenko has mentioned Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is in Russia – and Vladimir Putin won’t “wipe” him out.

Mr Lukashenko mentioned Prigozhin could also be in St Petersburg or Moscow, and insisted he’s “absolutely free”, including his Wagner troops stay on the camps the place that they had stayed earlier than the group’s aborted coup try final month.

“As for Yevgeny Prigozhin, he is in St Petersburg where he is this morning, maybe he went to Moscow, maybe somewhere else but he’s not in the territory of Belarus”, Mr Lukashenko instructed reporters on Thursday.

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Prigozhin not in Belarus, says Lukashenko

The 62-year-old has not been seen in public since he was pushed out of the Russian metropolis of Rostov after he ordered his males to face down and hypothesis has continued over his future and that of his mercenary group.

Last week, Mr Lukashenko confirmed the exiled chief was in his nation following a Belarus-brokered deal between the Kremlin and Prigozhin which introduced an finish to the mercenary chief’s armed mutiny on 24 June.

Mr Lukashenko, an in depth ally of Mr Putin, didn’t specify the placement of the camps however Prigozhin’s mercenaries fought alongside Russian forces in Ukraine earlier than their revolt.

His feedback comply with Russian media reviews claiming Prigozhin was noticed in St Petersburg.

Sky’s safety and defence editor Deborah Haynes says if the reviews are true, they communicate of “unresolved issues”.

She mentioned: “If he is actually on his way to Moscow that doesn’t speak of defiance, it speaks more of unresolved issues surrounding the whole extraordinary affair, which only two and a half weeks ago saw the Russian president facing the gravest threat to his authority during more than 20 years in power.”

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What occurs to him and his personal military subsequent

Asked if Prigozhin and his mercenaries had been going to maneuver to Belarus, Mr Lukashenko answered evasively that it will rely upon the selections taken by the Wagner chief and the Russian authorities.

The president has mentioned beforehand that he doesn’t assume Wagner’s presence in Belarus might result in the destabilisation of his nation.

It comes as Prigozhin’s St Petersburg palace was raided by Russian safety companies.

The FSB says it discovered gold bars, a stuffed alligator and a cabinet stuffed with wigs on the residence because the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia revealed photographs and video of the raid yesterday.

While the precise phrases of the Belarus-brokered deal are unclear, it’s believed that Prigozhin agreed to relocate to Belarus.

The Russian president described Wagner’s temporary rebel as “treason” and “a stab in the back”.

However, after it was referred to as off, the Kremlin mentioned all felony prices towards Prigozhin could be dropped and Wagner fighters wouldn’t be prosecuted.

The group has been liable for a few of Moscow’s successes within the battle in Ukraine and helped seize town of Bakhmut after months of bloody preventing.