Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has said Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is in Russia – and Vladimir Putin will not “wipe” him out.
Mr Lukashenko said Prigozhin may be in St Petersburg or Moscow, and insisted he is “absolutely free”, adding his Wagner troops remain at the camps where they had stayed before the group’s aborted coup attempt last month.
Ukraine war latest: Prigozhin not in Belarus, says Lukashenko
The 62-year-old has not been seen in public since he was driven out of the Russian city of Rostov after he ordered his men to stand down and speculation has continued over his future and that of his mercenary group.
Last week, Mr Lukashenko confirmed the exiled leader was in his country following a Belarus-brokered deal between the Kremlin and Prigozhin which brought an end to the mercenary chief’s armed mutiny on 24 June.
Mr Lukashenko did not specify the location of the camps, but Prigozhin’s mercenaries fought alongside Russian forces in Ukraine before their revolt.
It comes as Prigozhin’s St Petersburg palace was raided by Russian security services.
The FSB says it found gold bars, a stuffed alligator and a cupboard full of wigs at the residence as the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia published images and video of the raid yesterday.
Prigozhin’s brief rebellion saw Wagner fighters quickly sweep over the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and capture military headquarters there before marching on Moscow in what he described as a “march of justice” to oust the Russian defence minister and the general staff chief.
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The Russian president described Wagner’s brief rebellion as “treason” and “a stab in the back”.
However after it was called off, the Kremlin said all criminal charges against Prigozhin would dropped and his Wagner Group fighters would not be prosecuted.
Wagner fighters have been responsible for some of Moscow’s successes in the war in Ukraine and helped capture the city of Bakhmut after months of bloody fighting.