Lukashenko says Prigozhin is in Russia, not Belarus
MINSK, Belarus — President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus said in a rare appearance with reporters on Thursday that the leader of Russia’s recent armed uprising was not in Belarus, but remained in Russia.
Mr. Lukashenko said so Yevgeny V. Prigozhinthe head of the Wagner mercenary company, was in St. Petersburg or Moscow, contrary to statements he made for days after the mutiny. Mr Lukashenko’s latest claim could not be verified and Mr Prigozhin has not been seen in public since the uprising almost two weeks ago.
Mr Prigozhin “is in Saint Petersburg”, Mr Lukashenko said. He added that the Wagner leader may be traveling to Moscow, the Russian capital, but said he was “not on the territory of Belarus”.
Mr. Lukashenko was speaking in the wake of some of the most dramatic political chaos in Russia since President Vladimir V. Putin came to power more than 20 years ago. The Belarusian autocrat intervened in the armed mutiny led by Mr. Prigozhin and made a deal with the Wagner leader that led him to resign and withdraw his troops.
The deal called for Mr Prigozhin to end his mutiny in exchange for an amnesty for his troops and safe passage to Belarus for himself. In the days following the mutiny, Mr. Lukashenko had said that Mr. Prigozhin was in Belarus, but on Thursday he said the Wagner leader had remained in St. Petersburg, where he conducted business.
Mr Lukashenko said he had spoken with Mr Prigozhin on Wednesday and that Wagner would “continue to fulfill his duties to Russia as long as possible”. He said that Mr. Prigozhin “was a free man, but what will happen later, I do not know.”
Mr Lukashenko also said Wagner troops were not in Belarus and remained in their “permanent camps”. The claim could not be verified. After the failed mutiny, Wagner troops returned to their camps in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, a region largely occupied by Russia and illegally annexed last fall.
That is what Mr Lukashenko said earlier he had offered Wagner fighters an “abandoned” military baseand satellite images verified by The New York Times last week showed that new temporary structures were being built on an abandoned base about 130 kilometers from Minsk, the Belarusian capital. But on Thursday, Mr Lukashenko seemed annoyed by a question about the possible presence of Wagner troops in Belarus.
“Whether they will come here, and if so how many of them will come, we will decide in the future,” he said. “It will depend on the decision of the leaders of Russia and Wagner.”
Mr Lukashenko said all Wagner units in Belarus could be called up to defend the country, suggesting the mercenary company would remain a fighting force even after the failed mutiny. Mr. Lukashenko said Wagner’s agreement to defend Belarus in the event of a war was the main condition for granting permission for the group to move to the country.
“If we need to activate this unit for the defense of the nation, it will be activated immediately,” he said. “And their experience will be in high demand.”
After the uprising at the end of last month, Mr. Lukashenko positioned itself as a power broker who had helped avoid a crisis, even as he became increasingly isolated from the rest of the world. Viewed by the West as a subordinate under the control of the Kremlin, Mr. Lukashenko appears to be trying to polish his image as a major player in solving one of Mr. Putin’s biggest crises as Russia’s leader.
By giving an interview to a small group of reporters at his presidential palace on Thursday, Mr Lukashenko may be hoping to gain some measure of independence from his Moscow benefactors, while potentially getting a boost in his homeland, with an electorate more interested is at peace. than join Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Anatoly Kurmanaev And Ivan Nechepurenko reporting contributed.