Belarus President Lukashenko says Wagner chief Prigozhin is in Russia

MOSCOW: Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the mercenary Wagner Group, is presently in St. Petersburg, Russia, according to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

At a press conference with international media in Minsk, Lukashenko further said that the Wagner forces were at their “regular camps”, as he implied that they are not in Belarus, according to CNN.

“In terms of Yevgeny Prigozhin, he is in St Petersburg. Or maybe this morning he would travel to Moscow or elsewhere”, Lukashenko said. “But he is not on the territory of Belarus now”, Lukashenko said, according to CNN. Wagner’s location was “not a question for me”, he claimed, because “this is a Russian company”.

In the past, Lukashenko has claimed to have mediated a deal to put an end to Prigozhin’s mutiny last month by persuading Vladimir Putin of Russia not to “destroy” the Wagner group and arranging for Prigozhin to relocate to Belarus, CNN reported. However, Kremlin refused to comment on Prigozhin’s whereabouts.

Nearly two weeks after the Wagner chief started a mutiny and sent armed fighters on a march towards Moscow, the Kremlin declared on Thursday that it was “not following” Yevgeny Prigozhin’s movements.

According to Belarusian state media, Lukashenko, in his address on Tuesday this week, had said that he had warned Prigozhin that if he continued his march into the Russian capital, his soldiers would be obliterated.

The President of Belarus further said that the nation is not currently erecting camps for Wagner mercenary soldiers on its soil, and he has given the group some undeveloped area inside Belarus if they require it. (ANI)