Alexander Lukashenko, the despotic president of Belarus, said on Thursday that Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin is back in Russia.
Lukashenko offered Prigozhin refuge in Belarus after purportedly talking him into abandoning his “mutiny” against the Russian military on June 24.
It has never been clear whether Prigozhin or any of his Wagner Group mercenaries actually went to Belarus after halting what Prigozhin called their “March for Justice” perilously close to Moscow. Lukashenko claimed on June 27 that Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus and would stay “for some time” at his own expense, but he implied on Thursday that Prigozhin and his men have been in Russia all along.
“He is not on the territory of Belarus. He is in Petersburg,” Lukashenko said of Prigozhin on Thursday.
“Perhaps he went to Moscow this morning,” Lukashenko added as a joke.
“What will happen to him next? Strange things happen in life but if you think Putin is so malicious and vindictive that he will ‘wipe him out’ tomorrow – to say it in Russian – no, this will not happen,” Lukashenko said of Prigozhin’s fate.
Putin and some of his top officials reportedly vowed to “wipe out” Prigozhin’s mutinous forces after they took control of military buildings in the city of Rostov-on-Don. According to Prigozhin, they occupied Rostov and threatened Moscow because the Russian Defense Ministry did try to to wipe them out with a shower of missiles after they refused orders to dissolve the Wagner private military contractor (PMC) and become regular Russian soldiers.
The Belarusian dictator insisted that since Wagner is a “Russian company,” questions about its current deployment are “clearly not for me.”
“As far as I am informed, the fighters are in their camps,” he said. Asked by reporters if those camps were in Belarus, Lukashenko coyly said he would “absolutely not see any risks” from their presence if they were.
“At the moment the question of their transfer and set-up has not been decided. If we need to activate these units, we will activate them immediately and their experience will be very much appreciated,” he said, implying no Wagner forces are currently in his country, but they would be welcome if they decided to come across the border.
The Associated Press (AP) reported on Saturday that satellite photos showed a new military camp in Belarus that could become a headquarters for Wagner Group mercenaries. The camp suddenly sprouted dozens of tents and other structures after Lukashenko made his offer of sanctuary to Prigozhin on June 24.
Lukashenko was not the first to suggest that Prigozhin is currently lurking in St. Petersburg, Russia. On Tuesday, St. Petersburg police sportingly announced they would return $111 million in cash, gold, and weapons seized from Prigozhin in raids after he was targeted by a “criminal mutiny investigation.” One local newspaper claimed Prigozhin turned up at the offices of the FSB national security service in St. Petersburg to collect his guns in person.
Prigozhin himself suggested in one of his sporadic audio messages on Monday that his fighters could even return to the front lines of Russia’s war in Ukraine, where they had established a reputation for brutal effectiveness before Prigozhin rebelled, demanded the resignation of Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and invasion force commander Gen. Valery Gerasimov, and began his march to Moscow.
Shoigu and Gerasimov apparently still have their jobs, although they have been making fewer public appearances and they may have lost some of leader Vladimir Putin’s confidence due to Prigozhin’s mutiny. On the other hand, another top general who was a longtime friend of Prigozhin, Sergei Surovkin, disappeared after the mutiny and has not been seen in public since. Some observers believe Surovkin has been purged and will be indicted for colluding with Prigozhin.
Russian state media launched a vicious propaganda blitz against Prigozhin on Wednesday, calling him a “traitor” and accusing him of stealing the fortune he spent on establishing the Wagner Group. The state news report also accused Prigozhin of faking the missile attack on his forces that he used as an excuse to launch his mutiny.
Reuters speculated this coverage, which would have required Kremlin approval, was a shot across Prigozhin’s bow to remind him that he has not fulfilled his end of the deal brokered by Lukashenko – possibly including a promise to clear out of Russia.