Lukashenko confirms Prigozhin's arrival in Belarus

BelTA reports about it.

"The security guarantees, as he (Russian leader Vladimir Putin - ed.) promised yesterday, were provided. I see that Prigozhin is already flying in this plane. Yes, indeed, he is in Belarus today. As I promised, if you want to stay with us for a while, etc., we will help you. Of course, at their (Wagner's - ed.) expense," the Belarusian dictator said.

Earlier, Belarusian Hajun monitoring project reported the information about Prigozhin's arrival.

"Yevgeny Prigozhin's business jet (reg. number RA-02795) landed at the Machulishchy military airfield near Minsk at 07:40 am," the report says.

Belarusian Hajun later added that another business jet had arrived from Russia.

A BAe 125-800B business jet with registration number RA-02878 took off from St. Petersburg and landed at the Machulishchy military airfield at 07:58 am.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin did not know whether Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus.

"I have no information, I can't tell you anything," Peskov said.

As of June 26, the administration of the self-proclaimed president of Belarus did not confirm the arrival of Yevgeny Prigozhin in the country.

Prigozhin's mutiny in Russia

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. Prigozhin allegedly agreed on this during a conversation with Lukashenko.

Instead, Prigozhin announced that the Wagner group had stopped their advance and returned to their field camps before reaching 200 km from Moscow. He stated, "In a day, we covered a long distance, stopping only 200 km away from Moscow. During this time, no blood was shed. However, the moment may come when blood will be spilled. Therefore, taking full responsibility, we are turning our columns around and heading back to the field camps as planned."

Subsequently, Prigozhin and all his fighters left the headquarters of Russia's Southern Military District. Russian leader Vladimir Putin promised that Prigozhin would be able to go to Belarus, and Russia would close the criminal case against him.

For more information about the events, follow the link.

The deal reached through Lukashenko's mediation is likely to eliminate the Prigozhin-led Wagner PMC in its current form, although some elements of the organization may continue to exist under the Russian Defense Ministry, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

On June 26, Russian media reported that the Wagner leader remained under investigation for organizing a coup in Russia, and the investigation continued despite the Kremlin's statements that the case had been closed.

On June 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a speech in which he commented on Prigozhin's mutiny - the Russian president gave Wagner PMC fighters 3 options for future actions.

On June 26, Wagner leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that the main goal of the mutiny was "to prevent the destruction of the Wagner PMC, not to overthrow the government" and called it a "march of justice." He also claimed that the offensive on Moscow had stopped because the mercenaries "did not want to shed much blood."