Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of infamous private army Wagner, has reportedly been sighted in Belarus – his first public appearance in nearly a month after leading a mutiny against the Russian state.
In a new video, a man identified as Mr Prigozhin confirms he and Wagner troops are in Belarus and says they will not be immediately rejoining the war in Ukraine.
The mercenary leader’s whereabouts have been unclear since late June, when he led his troops in a dramatic march on Moscow in an apparent bid to challenge the leadership of the Russian armed forces.
The former ally of Vladimir Putin was openly critical of senior officials in the Russian military, and questioned the President’s reasons for invading Ukraine, before abruptly calling off the mutiny.
He appeared to have agreed to enter exile in Belarus, after the state helped cut a deal between Mr Prigozhin and Mr Putin. In late June, he was reported to be staying at the Green City Hotel in Minsk, and a plane linked to Mr Prigozhin landed close to the Belarusian capital, but his location was not confirmed.
A video shared on social media on Wednesday purportedly shows Mr Prigozhin speaking to Wagner troops in Belarus shortly after sunset.
In the clip, which i has not independently verified, a man whose voice and Russian sounds like that of Mr Prigozhin says, “welcome lads … Welcome to Belarusian soil.”
“We fought honourably. You have done a great deal for Russia. What is going on at the front is a disgrace that we do not need to get involved in.”
The Wagner leader says that the group will “be here in Belarus for some time” before “gathering our strength and heading off for Africa”, telling his men to behave well towards the locals and to train the Belarusian army.
“Perhaps we will return to the SMO (special military operation in Ukraine) at some point when we are sure that we will not be forced to shame ourselves,” he continues.
A man who sounds like Dmitry Utkin, who helped to found Wagner, adds: “This is not the end. This is just the beginning of the biggest work in the world that will be carried out very soon. The man then switches to English, adding: “And welcome to hell!”
The troops can be heard chanting back at him and laughing during the two-minute long clip.
A prominent military blogger on Telegram, Wagner’s preferred social media site, appeared to confirm the veracity of the video.
A broadcast from Afrique Media the day before the new video also claimed to feature Mr Prigozhin discussing similar plans for Africa.
Ukraine has said that Wagner troops began arriving in Belarus just three weeks after the mutiny. Belarus has claimed that the mercenaries are training its soldiers.
Wagner troops had been fighting in Ukraine before a split between Mr Prigozhin and Mr Putin, who were close allies, over Russia’s handling of the war.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko offered to take Mr Prigozhin to the country in a deal that ended the rebellion last month.
They are also known to be operating in countries across Africa, including the Central African Republic and Mali, offering support for political leaders in return for access to natural resources.
In April, i revealed that Wagner is operating in the current conflict in Sudan.
Reuters contributed to this report.
