BREAKING: Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is still in Russia and his fighters are in their camps despite a deal for exile after their mutiny, Belarusian leader says.
The Wagner leader said thousands of his fighters were marching on Moscow, only to turn back after an apparent deal brokered by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko that would see themLukashenko said last week that Prigozhin was in Belarus. On Thursday however, he told a rare news conference that Prigozhin was still in Russia, in his hometown of St. Petersburg, despite the Kremlin effectively saying he had been banished.
His mercenaries were still in their"permanent camps" in Russian-controlled territory, Lukashenko added, saying that he was still waiting on the Kremlin to ask him to host the fighters. Speaking at a briefing of the world's media in the presidential palace in Minsk on Thursday morning, he dismissed the concerns of Belarusians who worry about the implications of having thousands of members of the armed mercenary group inside their borders.
"I absolutely do not care and do not worry that a certain number of these fighters will be deployed here," said Lukashenko, who has portrayed himself as"The main condition" of the potential Wagner deployment, he added,"is that if we need to use this unit for the defense of the state, it will be used instantly. Their experience will be in demand."Keir Simmons reported from Minsk, Belarus, and Alexander Smith reported from London.
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