A senior commander of the Wagner group was quoted as saying that the mercenary fighters of the group, led by Yevgeny Prigogine, are preparing to move to Belarus under the terms of an agreement to defuse their rebellion against the Russian military leadership.

 

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edited by |Jus Mcmahon

 

Politic section -  CJ journalist

Ukraine conflict news section      

 

Minsk – July,8,2023

 

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Since the June 23-24 mutiny, which saw Wagner's fighters briefly capture a city in southern Russia and head for Moscow, the exact whereabouts of Prigogine and his mercenaries have been unclear.

Under the agreement that ended the rebellion, Prigogine was supposed to move to Belarus, and his men - some of them ex - convicts released early to fight in Ukraine-were given the option of moving with him to Belarus, joining the regular Russian Armed Forces, or returning home.

But Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday that Prigogine and thousands of his fighters were still in Russia, raising questions about the implementation of the agreement.

"As for Yevgeny Prigogine, he is in St. Petersburg or maybe somewhere else (in Russia). But it's not in Belarus".

The head of intelligence at the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Kirilo Budanov, said that the Russian Internal Security Service received orders-directly from Russian President Vladimir Putin - to assassinate Prigogine, a task that will take a long time, according to the Ukrainian military official.

Some observers expect Prigogine to be assassinated, given Putin's past with his opponents, some of whom have been liquidated by poison, murder or in prison, according to Western allegations.

A channel on the Telegram application quoted Anton Yelizarov, whose code name is" Lotus", as saying that Wagner's fighters are on vacation until early August, on Prigogine's orders, before moving to Belarus.

"We have to prepare bases and training grounds, coordinate with local governments and administrations, organize interaction with law enforcement agencies of Belarus, establish logistics," the Yevgeny Prigogine Telegram channel quotes him as saying.

The authenticity of the interview could not yet be verified.

Prigogine himself has been uncharacteristically silent for the past two weeks. He has not posted on his previously favorite Telegram channel - named "Yevgeny Prigogine press service" - since June 26, when he defended the rebellion of his fighters.

An adviser to the Belarusian Defense Ministry said on Friday that no one from Wagner's group has yet visited the abandoned camp that Lukashenko offered to the fighters to use.

The commander of the Wagner group, Yelizarov, said that there had been no attempt by Russian security forces to "strike" Wagner fighters since the rebellion.

Prigogine, who has long been highly critical of the Russian Defense Ministry and the general staff for their handling of the war in Ukraine, said he had launched the "March of justice" towards Moscow to protest corruption and incompetence among senior officers.

Asked about the recent attacks on Prigogine in the Russian official media, Yelizarov said that it was an attempt by the Russian military establishment to drive a wedge between the mercenary commander and his fighters.

He added that the attempt would fail, because it was Prigogine himself who created and formed Wagner fighters "when the state did not need us". Yelizarov compared his commander Prigogine and his men to King Arthur - an ancient legendary figure – and his men the Knights of the round table.

This week, Russian state television broadcast footage allegedly shot during law enforcement raids on Prigogine's St. Petersburg office and one of his "palaces".

Russian television said that the investigation of Prigogine is still ongoing, despite the June 24 agreement under which criminal charges against him for the failed rebellion were dropped.

 

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