Lukashenko declares army's combat readiness due to Prigozhin coup attempt

He made this announcement during his speech.

Lukashenko stated that he has issued all the necessary orders to bring the army to full combat readiness and emphasized that Belarus has the technical capabilities to counter threats from the west.

The Belarusian dictator also emphasized that he has been preparing for war for 30 years.

"That is why we are living under peaceful skies today," he said.

Lukashenko noted that it was painful to witness the events unfolding in southern Russia because "there is only one homeland."

What we know about Prigozhin coup attempt

For several months, there has been a conflict between Yevgeny Prigozhin, the financier of Wagner PMC, and the Russian Ministry of Defense. However, the situation escalated quickly on the evening of June 23.

Allegedly, Russian troops launched a missile attack on the Wagner base. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner PMC, announced a "march of justice" and stated that 25,000 mercenaries were heading to Moscow after the Russian leadership refused to hand over Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

On Saturday, June 24, in addition to Rostov-on-Don, where they initially gathered around the headquarters of the Southern Military District, the Wagner group also took control of Voronezh. Their convoys, which had diverted from the Ukrainian border, were moving towards Moscow. Military aircraft and artillery under Shoigu's control attempted to stop them. The units of Wagner PMC were last spotted in the Lipetsk region. In Moscow itself, defensive positions were established, trenches were dug, and all security forces were mobilized.

However, on the evening of June 24, the press service of the self-proclaimed President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, released a statement in which the head of the Wagner PMC stated that he was ready to stop the advance of his mercenaries' military convoys, which were already approaching Moscow, and to reach an agreement with the Kremlin. 

In the evening of June 24, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced that, as a result of negotiations in which Lukashenko actively participated, the coup attempt had been halted to prevent "the unleashing of a bloody conflict on Russian territory." According to Peskov, Prigozhin would travel to Belarus.

As of the evening of June 26, Lukashenko's spokesperson stated that there is no information about the possible arrival of Prigozhin in Belarus.