The chief of the Wagner private army that staged an aborted rebellion against the Kremlin’s military leadership last month is back in Russia, according to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Yevgeny Prigozhin “is in St. Petersburg,” Lukashenko told reporters in Minsk on Thursday, according to the state-owned Belta news agency. The mercenary leader may also have gone to Moscow, the president said.
Lukashenko said last week that Prigozhin was in Belarus days after he agreed to turn his mercenaries away from a march on Moscow June 24 that had spiraled into the greatest threat to President Vladimir Putin’s nearly quarter-century rule in Russia. The Wagner founder hasn’t made a public appearance since the revolt ended.
