Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is still in Russia, Belarus’s president Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday, despite a deal with the Kremlin for him to move to Belarus following his failed insurrection last month.
“As for Prigozhin, he is in St. Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus,”Lukashenko told reporters from foreign media outlets. Just over a week ago, Mr. Lukashenko said Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus.
Lukashek said that the fighters from Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group have also not moved to Belarus yet, despite an offer from the Kremlin for those who took part in the failed mutiny to do so.
The Belarus leader said an offer for Wagner to station some of its fighters in Belarus—a prospect that has alarmed neighbouring NATO countries—still stands. Mr. Lukashenko said he did not see it as a risk to Belarus and did not believe Wagner fighters would ever take up arms against his country.
“I am not at all worried about having some fighters here. If they need to be mobilised, we will do that in a flash. We’ll see all the skills they’ve picked up on the frontline and will use that for our training,” he said.
The Wagner Group is a private army of mercenaries that has been fighting alongside the regular Russian army in Ukraine.
Prigozhin launched a mutiny against Russia’s military leadership on June 23 and sent an armed column towards Moscow in the biggest challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s leadership. Some 24 hours later, the Kremlin said the crisis had been resolved thanks to mediation from Lukashenko, with Prigozhin due to depart for Belarus.
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