Wagner fighters preparing to move to Belarus

According to the conditions of a settlement that ended their uprising against Russia’s military leadership, mercenary warriors from Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner organisation are getting ready to relocate to Belarus, a senior commander of the group was cited as saying. Since the mutiny on June 23–24, when Wagner fighters briefly overran a city in southern Russia and advanced on Moscow, it is unknown exactly where Prigozhin and his mercenaries are. Prigozhin was supposed to transfer to Belarus as part of the agreement that put an end to the mutiny, and his troops, some of whom were ex-convicts released early to fight in Ukraine, were given the choice of moving with him to Belarus, joining Russia’s regular armed forces, or returning home. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko stated on Thursday that Prigozhin and thousands of his fighters were still in Russia, casting doubt on the deal’s execution. On Saturday, a channel on the Telegram messaging app cited Anton Yelizarov, whose alias is “Lotus,” as claiming that the fighters were currently on holiday until early August on Prigozhin’s orders before travelling to Belarus. “We have to prepare bases, training grounds, coordinate with local governments and administrations, organise interaction with the law enforcement agencies of Belarus and establish logistics,” he was quoted by the “Yevgeny Prigozhin on Telegram” channel as saying. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the interview. Prigozhin himself has gone uncharacteristically quiet over the past two weeks. He has not posted on his previously preferred Telegram channel - Yevgeny Prigozhin Press Service - since June 26, when he defended his fighters’ mutinous actions. An adviser to Belarus’ defence ministry said on Friday that nobody from the Wagner group had yet visited the disused military camp that Lukashenko had offered for the fighters’ use. Yelizarov said there had been no attempt by Russia’s security forces to “hit” Wagner fighters since the mutiny. Prigozhin, long fiercely critical of Russia’s defence ministry and General Staff chiefs over their handling of the war in Ukraine, said he launched his “march of justice” on Moscow to protest against corruption and incompetence among the top brass. Asked about recent attacks on Prigozhin in the Russian state media, Yelizarov said they were an attempt by Russia’s military establishment to drive a wedge between the mercenary chief and his Wagner fighters. The attempt would fail, he said, because Prigozhin himself had created and moulded the Wagner fighters “when the state did not need us”. Yelizarov compared Prigozhin and his men to the mythical King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. This week, Russian state TV broadcast footage purportedly shot during law enforcement raids on Prigozhin’s St Petersburg office and one of his “palaces”. It said an investigation against Prigozhin was still under way despite the June 24 deal, under which criminal charges against him over the failed mutiny were dropped. (With agency inputs)