The Belarusian president on Tuesday said tensions between the Russian mercenary company Wagner and the Moscow army had been “mismanaged” and that was the cause of the weekend’s “showdown”.
“The situation eluded us and then we thought it would be resolved, but it was not resolved,” Lukashenko told journalists, quoted by Belarusian state news agency Belta, adding that “there are no heroes in this story.”
The head of state of Belarus, a key ally of Vladimir Putin, said earlier that he ordered the Minsk army to “prepare for battle” in the wake of the Wagner mercenary company’s “uprising” in Russia.
“I have given all orders for the army [da Bielorrússia] be fully combat ready,” Alexander Lukashenko told Belarusian state news agency Belta.
The measure was taken in response to the “uprising” of the Wagner group last Friday and Saturday.
The leader of the Wagner Company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, will travel to Belarus, according to the Kremlin, after agreeing to end the coup.
Charges against Wagner group mercenaries were dropped
Meanwhile, Russian authorities have announced that charges against the group of fighters employed by the Wagner Company led by Yevgeny Prigozhin will be dropped.
“It is certain” that the participants in the riot “put an end to actions directly aimed at committing a crime,” Russia’s security services (FSB) said today, quoted by Moscow news agencies.
Under these circumstances, “the decision to withdraw the charges was made on June 27 [hoje]the FSB added.
Over the weekend, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who leads the Wagner group, led a 24-hour armed uprising, with the mercenaries taking the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and advancing as far as 200 kilometers from Moscow.
The uprising ended with an “agreement” brokered by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, which the Kremlin says stipulates that Prigozhin be exiled to Belarus in exchange for immunity for himself and his mercenaries.
Yevgeny Prigozhin justified Monday’s “uprising” with the need to “save” the organization, dismissing an attempted coup and adding that 30 contracted fighters had died in clashes with the Russian army.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a speech broadcast on Russian television on Monday, accused those responsible for the uprising of being traitors and said their actions only benefited Ukraine and Kiev’s allies.
Source: DN
