Belarusian president says Prigozhin is in his country

Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the private army of inmate recruits and other mercenaries that has fought some of the deadliest battles in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is in Belarus after his abortive armed rebellion against the Kremlin, Belarus’s president says.

The exile in Belarus of the 62-year-old owner of the Wagner Group had earlier been announced by the Kremlin as part of the deal that ended the short-lived armed mutiny in Russia.

Prigozhin and some of his troops would be welcome to stay in Belarus “for some time” at their own expense, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says.

Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron hand for 29 years, relentlessly stifling dissent and relying on Russian subsidies and political support, portrayed the uprising as the latest development in a clash between Prigozhin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Their long-simmering personal feud has at times boiled over, and Prigozhin has said the revolt aimed to unseat Shoigu, not Putin.

Lukashenko frames the insurrection as a significant menace, saying he put Belarus’ armed forces on a combat footing as the mutiny unfolded.

Lukashenko says he had urged Putin not to be hasty in his response, adding that a conflict with Wagner could have spiraled out of control.

Like Putin, Lukashenko couched the Ukraine war in terms of an existential threat to Russia, saying: “If Russia collapses, we all will perish under the debris.”