The leader of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, appeared on Wednesday for the first time since the June 24 uprising in a video welcoming his men to Belarus. “I am happy to greet you. Welcome to the Belarusian lands. We fought with dignity. We did a lot for Russia,” said Prigozhin, whose whereabouts between Belarus and Russia have been uncertain. The new mission is to train and prepare the Belarusian army for a “new journey in Africa”, claiming it will not return to Ukraine (for now).
“What is happening at the front now is a disgrace that we don’t have to participate in”, said the leader of the Wagner Group. “We have to wait for the moment when we can fully prove our worth again,” he added, justifying the decision to remain in Belarus. “I am sure that at this time we will make the Belarusian army the second largest in the world. And if necessary, we will defend them,” he said.
“We need to prepare, improve and embark on a new journey in Africa,” where the group has a strong presence in countries such as Mali or the Central African Republic. “Maybe we’ll come back [à Ucrânia] when we are confident that we will not be asked to be ashamed of ourselves and our experience,” he said. The video was filmed at sunset and Prigozhin only appears in profile – in addition to being mentioned by name by one of his commanders. Still, it’s not 100% sure it’s him.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Kyiv recognizes its counter-offensive will be “long and difficult” and is again asking Western allies for tanks and F-16 fighters. However, Ukrainians welcomed a “successful operation” in Crimea on Wednesday, where a fire at a military depot forced the evacuation of thousands of civilians from the area. “The enemy hides the extent of the damage and the number of human losses”, pointed to the head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov.
For its part, Russia has warned that it will consider all ships in the Black Sea en route to Ukraine carrying military equipment and therefore potential targets. This was after the exit from the grain deal and at a time when Kiev wanted to keep exports.
Putin withdraws from South Africa
The Russian president has finally decided not to travel to the BRICS summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to be held in Johannesburg next month. As the target of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, accused of forcibly deporting Ukrainian minors, Putin was at risk of arrest. Pretoria tried to find a solution to avoid this problem.
“By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not participate in the summit,” President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesman said on Wednesday. The head of diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, will act on his behalf, he said, but Russian media have revealed that Putin will participate via videoconference. The decision comes after numerous “consultations” that Ramaphosa has held in recent months, the last of which took place on Tuesday evening. So far Russia has insisted that the president attend.
Source: DN
