Lukashenko: Mercenary is in Russia

Prigozhin’s fate is unclear after he halted rebellion

MINSK, Belarus — Mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin is in Russia and a “free man,” the leader of Belarus said Thursday, adding to the questions swirling around Prigozhin’s fate nearly two weeks after he called off his stunning armed rebellion against Moscow’s military leadership.

In a rare interview session with reporters at Independence Palace, the autocratic leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said that Prigozhin was in his native city of St. Petersburg, Russia, as of Thursday morning, and then “maybe he went to Moscow, maybe somewhere else, but he is not on the territory of Belarus.” That was a contrast with statements he made days after the mutiny, when he said that the head of the Wagner paramilitary forces had arrived in Belarus. Prigozhin has not been seen in public since the rebellion nearly two weeks ago.

A Pentagon official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation later confirmed that Prigozhin had been in Russia, between Moscow and St. Petersburg, during most of the period since the mutiny. The official said it was unclear if Prigozhin had ever gone to Belarus because he apparently uses body doubles to mask his movements.

Lukashenko intervened late last month in the armed mutiny led by Prigozhin, striking a deal with the Wagner leader that saw him stand down and withdraw his forces in exchange for amnesty for his fighters and safe passage to Belarus for himself. Prigozhin’s apparent presence in Russia raises questions about the future of the deal.

Lukashenko told journalists that Prigozhin was “not on the territory of Belarus,” nor were Wagner troops, who he said remained in their “permanent camps,” believed to be in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.

The comments added to the confusion surrounding the aftermath of the most dramatic challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority in his 23 years in power. The Kremlin refused to comment on Lukashenko’s claims, telling reporters Thursday that it was unaware of Prigozhin’s whereabouts.

“We don’t follow his movements. We have neither the ability nor the desire to do so,” said Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman.

The independent St. Petersburg news outlet Fontanka, which broke some of the earliest stories about Prigozhin, reported that the mercenary boss was in St. Petersburg earlier this week, collecting weapons that Russian authorities seized from his country house during the mutiny.

During the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, Prigozhin arrived at the city’s Federal Security Services building in a BMW 7 Series and received a cache of carbines, automatic rifles, and pistols that authorities had taken from his country residence, Fontanka reported. Among the guns returned to Prigozhin was a Glock pistol awarded to him by the Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, before the official became the object of the mercenary chief ’s ire, the Russian media outlet said.

Lukashenko also signaled that at least some of Wagner’s fighting force — which was instrumental in Russia’s capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut this spring — could stay intact. He called the group Russia’s “most powerful unit,” although he said that “the main question of where Wagner will be deployed and what will it do — it doesn’t depend on me; it depends on the leadership of Russia.”

Lukashenko said that he had spoken to Prigozhin on Wednesday and that Wagner would continue to “fulfill its duties to Russia for as long as it can.” He said Prigozhin was “a free man, but what will happen later, I don’t know.”

He said he did not expect that Putin would seek immediate vengeance for the failed mutiny. “If you think that Putin is so malicious and vindictive that he will ‘kill’ Prigozhin tomorrow — no, this will not happen,” he said.