Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian war criminal Vladimir Putin, said earlier today that the head of the mercenary Wagner private military company and war criminal Yevgeny Prigozhin was back in Russia after his failed mutiny in June. Lukashenko had reportedly negotiated a deal to allow Prigozhin to go to Belarus with whichever follower wanted to stay with him, in exchange for Putin sparing his life:
"Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin is in St. Petersburg and his Wagner troops have remained at the camps where they had stayed before a short-lived mutiny against Moscow, the president of Belarus said Thursday. [snip]
After saying last week that Prigozhin was in Belarus, Lukashenko told international reporters Thursday that the mercenary leader was in St. Petersburg and Wagner’s troops still were at 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.
Lukashenko said his government offered Wagner, a private military contractor founded by Prigozhin, the use of Belarusian military camps but the company had not made a final decision."
Other reports appear to confirm Lukashenko's statement. Yesterday, Putin propagandist media outlet Izvestia released pictures and video purporting to show a search of Prigozhin's estate and offices from June 24 by Russian security officers, who found "'weapons and cartridges for them, several passports, wigs, gold bars'" and "'money in various currencies.'"
Given the threat that Prigozhin posed to Putin's regime with his mercenary army, it's hard to conceive that Prigozhin returned to Russia of his own free will to potentially face treason charges. Stay tuned.
(photo: from left, Lukashenko, Prigozhin and Putin)
