Lukashenko does not reveal whether Prigozhin has come to Belarus
The press service of self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has stated they do not know whether the leader of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has arrived in Belarus yet.
Source: Fontanka, a Russian news outlet
Details: On 26 June, the Russian media outlet called Lukashenko's press service, but they were unable to answer whether Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus.
An employee of the press service stated that "there is no such information" and suggested that Fontanka send an official information request.
The Belarusian monitoring outlet has reported that both of Prigozhin's aircraft are in Russia: the first BAe 125-800B (RA-02731) has been in Moscow since 22 June, while the second, which is his main aircraft, an Embraer Legacy 600 (RA-02795), flew to southern Russia from St Petersburg on 25 June and returned to St Petersburg late in the evening.
Thus, Yevgeny Prigozhin did not fly to Belarus – at least, using his own planes.
At the same time, various Telegram channels are spreading insights that Prigozhin is already in Minsk. Observers have not yet been able to confirm this information.
On Saturday evening, Dmitry Peskov, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's spokesman, said that due to negotiations, in which Lukashenko took an active part, the rebellion was stopped – in order to "prevent the unleashing of a bloody massacre on the territory of Russia".
Prigozhin accepted Lukashenko's proposal to stop the movement of the Wagner PMC, and Peskov claimed that Prigozhin would go to Belarus.
Background:
- On the evening of 23 June, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that the regular Russian army had launched a missile strike on the Wagner mercenaries’ rear camps. He therefore deployed 25,000 of his mercenaries "to restore justice".
- Prigozhin claimed that his forces had taken control of military facilities in Rostov-on-Don, including the air base, and were heading "to Moscow" and that his soldiers had shot down three Russian helicopters. Wagner mercenaries also seized military facilities in the Russian city of Voronezh. The Russian capital was already preparing for defence.
- In an emergency address on 24 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was "fighting for survival" and that attempts were being made to "organise a rebellion" in the country. Ukrainian intelligence had information that Putin had urgently left Moscow for his residence in Valdai.
- On Saturday evening, after a conversation with Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Prigozhin announced that his mercenaries were turning their convoys around and going back to set up field camps. Later, it was reported that the criminal case against Prigozhin was to be closed and he would "go to Belarus".
- Russian pro-war media and Telegram channels are claiming that Wagner mercenaries have shot down an Il-22M aircraft (control point) and six helicopters of the Russian army, and 13 to 20 people died as a result of the mutiny by Wagner Group fighters. In addition to this, 19 houses and roads have been damaged as a result of the march of Prigozhin’s troops.
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