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Lukashenka Says Wagner Group's Leader Prigozhin Is In Belarus

(Article text Copyright © 2023 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036. – rferl.org – June 27, 2023 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/belarus-lukashenka-prigozhin-alert-nato-threat/32477711.html)

Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka says the leader of Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is currently in Belarus, where he reportedly moved from Russia after his forces staged a short-lived armed mutiny, taking over Russia's southwestern city of Rostov-on-Don and marching toward Moscow over the weekend before abruptly calling it off.

"Yes, that is true, [Prigozhin] is in Belarus today. I promised him, saying that if you want to stay at our place an so on, we will help you. Of course on their own expenses," Lukashenka said on June 27 while speaking to a group of top Belarusian military officers in Minsk.

Lukashenka added that he agreed with Belarusian Defense Minister Viktar Khrenin, who had expressed interest in having Wagner mercenaries integrated among his forces.

Hours earlier, Lukashenka said in an address that he had placed the country’s military on full combat alert in connection with the uprising.

Lukashenka, an authoritarian who has ruled Belarus since 1994, claimed the uprising was part of a purported threat from “the West.”

"We must be stronger than the threat that is once again casting its shadow over our country," Lukashenka said. "And once again it is coming from the West."

He claimed that Belarusian border guards reported "provocations" by NATO "almost every day."

Earlier the same day, a private business jet previously used by Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin landed at a military air base outside the Belarusian capital, Minsk.

The crisis in Russia was defused after Lukashenka reportedly brokered a deal that allowed Prigozhin, a former Kremlin insider who was known as Russian President Vladimir Putin's "chef" because his companies catered official events, to leave for Belarus.

Putin said in a speech on June 26 that Wagner fighters could also go to Belarus if they did not want to join the Russian military.

In his comments, Lukashenka expressed the hope that Wagner commanders would help train Belarusian security forces.

“If their commanders come to us and help us… tell us what is important right now…. That’s priceless,” he said.

He added that Belarus did not need to fear the sudden Wagner presence in the country.

“We will keep a close eye on them,” he said.

The Embraer 600 jet connected with Prigozhin landed at about 7:40 a.m. local time. A few minutes later, a second private jet landed at the base after arriving from St. Petersburg, Prigozhin's hometown and the location of the Wagner headquarters, according to Belaruski Hayun, a social-media site that tracks aviation in Belarus.

It was not clear whether Prigozhin, who has not been seen since the uprising on June 24, was on either plane.

The jet that landed in Minsk has been listed by U.S. sanctions documents as being connected to Prigozhin.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced it had dropped a criminal case against Prigozhin and the Wagner fighters after its investigation found they had "ceased activities directed at committing the crime" of mutiny.

The short-lived Wagner uprising was the most significant challenge to Putin over his more than two decades in power in Russia.

At least 10 military pilots of Russia's Interior Ministry were killed during what Prigozhin called a "march of justice" to Moscow, which the group aborted about 200 kilometers from the Russian capital over the weekend.

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Key Words: Russia, Russian Military, Mutiny, Prigozhin, Wagner Group, Russo-Ukrainian War, Belarus, Lukashenka