The president of Belarus said on Thursday that the leader of the Wagner group is not in the country. Alexander Lukashenko said that Yevgeny Prigozhin will be in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg.
The information was given at a press conference held in Minsk with several average International. “As for Prigozhin, he is in Saint Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus,” Lukashenko told Reuters.
Remember, the president of Belarus confirmed last week that Prigozhin was in the country after leading an armed uprising in neighboring Russia last June.
Alexander Lukashenko helped negotiate a deal that ended the June 24 riot. According to this agreement, Prigozhin would have agreed to leave Russia and settle in Belarus, but since the uprising there have been many questions about the whereabouts of the leader of the Wagner group.
However, Lukashenko pointed out that the Wagner fighters are in their camps, where they were after leaving Bakhmut.
“As far as I know, the fighters of the Wagner group are in their camps, where they were after they retreated from the front line. After Bakhmut, they went to their camps, and this is where they are now,” Alexander Lukashenko told Belarusian news agency Belta.
Prigozhin is “absolutely free”
Lukashenko also said that he does not consider it a risk to have fighters from the Wagner group on Belarusian territory, just in case, and emphasized the experience of the mercenaries.
to journalists, the Belarusian head of state said Prigozhin is “absolutely free” and said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin will not kill the leader of the Wagner group. “If you think Putin is so vindictive that he’s going to kill him tomorrow? No, that’s not going to happen.”
The information about Prigozhin’s whereabouts comes on the day a Russian television channel reported that the investigation into the armed uprising was still ongoing. According to Sky News, Rossiya-1 TV reported that the office and residence of the Wagner leader were searched by security services (FSB).
Gold bars, money and other luxury items were found, as well as wigs, weapons, ammunition and passports.
Source: DN
