Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has said Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is in Russia – and Vladimir Putin will not “wipe” him out.
Mr Lukashenko said Prigozhin may be in St Petersburg or Moscow, and insisted he is “absolutely free”, adding his Wagner troops remain at the camps where they had stayed before the group’s aborted coup attempt last month.
Ukraine war latest: Prigozhin not in Belarus, says Lukashenko
Prigozhin has not been seen in public since the failed mutiny and speculation has continued over his future and that of his mercenary group.
Last week, Mr Lukashenko confirmed the exiled leader was in his country following a Belarus-brokered deal between the Kremlin and Prigozhin which brought an end to the mercenary chief’s armed mutiny on 24 June.
Mr Lukashenko did not specify the location of the camps, but Prigozhin’s mercenaries fought alongside Russian forces in Ukraine before their revolt.
Prigozhin’s brief rebellion saw Wagner fighters quickly sweep over the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and capture military headquarters there before marching on Moscow in what he described as a “march of justice” to oust the Russian defence minister and the general staff chief.
