Wagner mercenary chief to move to Belarus under deal brokered by Lukashenko, says Kremlin
Jun 24, 2023
Moscow [Russia], June 25 : Wagner mercenary force chief Yevgeny Prigozhin will move to Belarus under a deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to end an armed mutiny that Prigozhin had led against Russia's military leadership, Al Jazeera reported on Saturday, quoting the Kremlin.
"Lukashenko had offered to mediate, with Russian President Vladimir Putin's agreement because he had known Prigozhin personally for around 20 years," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday, according to Al Jazeera.
Prigozhin said he has ordered his forces, who had been advancing on Moscow, to turn around and return to their bases to avoid bloodshed, it said.
Earlier, authorities in Moscow and the surrounding area said they had declared a "counterterrorism" state of emergency after Prigozhin claimed his forces were in control of military sites in Rostov, Al Jazeera reported.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus tweeted, "At 9 p.m. tonight, the Presidents spoke again by phone. The President of #Belarus #Lukashenko informed the President of Russia about the results of negotiations w/ the leader of the Wagner Group. President Putin thanked his counterpart for the work done."
Earlier in the day, Russia's President Vladimir Putin in a televised address to the nation said that the "armed mutiny" by the Wagner Group is a "stab in the back" and vowed to punish those who were on the "path of treason" or anyone who takes up arms against the Russian military.
Prigozhin, the alleged head of the Wagner mercenary group, in a series of recordings released on social media on Saturday, announced that his troops had taken control of military facilities in two Russian cities.
Wagner on Saturday claimed to have taken control of Russian military facilities in Voronezh, including the airfield in Rostov-on-Don.
