According to the President of Belarus, Yevgeny Prigoyine arrived in Minsk three days after his march to Moscow. The mercenaries are free to settle in the country, while before July 1 they were forced to sign a contract with the army in Russia.
Evguégni Prigojine marched to Moscow, here he ended up in Minsk. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed the mercenary’s arrival in the capital on Tuesday, June 27, two days after Wagner’s show of force in Russia. The dictator had agreed to welcome the leader of the paramilitary group on Saturday as part of the deal that put an end to the mad march of armed militants in Russia.
>> War in Ukraine: Follow the latest developments live with franceinfo
According to the Belarusian surveillance group Gayoun, an Embrayer 600 business jet landed at the Matchulishchi airbase on Tuesday morning. Minsk has not confirmed whether the leader of the Wagner group arrived on this or another flight. The Belarusian dictator is now hoping that their Wagner commanders can help his forces gain “experience”. In his opinion, there is nothing to fear from their arrival on Belarusian territory. “It would not bother me to have such a unit in the army,” even said Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin, quoted by the official Belta agency.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a military ceremony at the Independence Palace in Minsk, June 27, 2023. (PRESIDENTIALITY OF BELARUS)
The day before, in a five-minute speech, President Vladimir Putin offered the Wagner fighters the option of leaving for Belarus, “returning to their families” or signing a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry or the police. In any case, the neighboring country seems to be ready to take in these men.
“We are not yet building a camp” for Wagner’s fighters, said Alexander Lukashenko. He adds that these soldiers, who are currently still in the occupied Luhansk region of Ukraine, could be quartered in decommissioned areas with the support of the authorities. The day before, the independent medium Viorstka had reported that the establishment of base camps was imminent. According to this source, more than 8,000 beds were already planned for the future center of Assipovitchy, a city 200 kilometers from Ukraine.
According to Alexander Lukashenko, it is still not certain that there will be Wagner recruitment centers in the country. Most importantly, he assured that these fighters would never be responsible for monitoring tactical nuclear weapons brought into the area from Russia. “This is our mission,” alongside the Russians, “and I’m the Chief Weapons Safety Officer.”
Prigozhin and Lukashenko, old friends
Wagner’s future mission in the country has therefore yet to be defined. On Saturday evening, Alexander Lukashenko indicated that the group could continue its activities in his country “on a legal basis”. And Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that Yevgeny Prigoyin would pack his bags for Belarus, offering the Russian president’s word as the only guarantee.
He then emphasized the closeness of the dictator and the mercenary, assuring that they had known each other “for twenty years”. The former head of the Belarusian public broadcaster assures that the two men met in 2002 on the floating restaurant of the future mercenary. A place in the heart of Saint Petersburg where the entire political and business elite meets. However, it is difficult to assess the true nature of their relationship.
These were not always in good condition. In July 2020, 33 Wagner fighters were arrested in a hotel in Minsk and accused of wanting to destabilize the country in the presidential election campaign, the state agency Belta then reported. The opportunity for President Alexander Lukashenko to demarcate his territory from the large neighboring country. “We have a good relationship. I call her Genia.” [diminutif d’Evguéni]”, despite this episode, the dictator had nevertheless declared about Prigojine. “I wish him the best,” the mercenary had replied, not very resentfully.
Earlier this year, a Wagner mace, one of the paramilitary group’s emblems, was displayed in his violin case at a patriotic exhibition in Minsk. This sinister symbol of war crimes was signed by a certain “Bes” – the call sign of Nikolai Budko, a Belarusian commander of the Wagner Group, reports independent outlet Reform.by. This man is particularly known for ordering the execution of a Syrian man in 2017 who was tortured, beheaded and had his limbs smashed with a sledgehammer.
A mass by Wagner in a violin case, photographed on May 31, 2023 and published by the Belta Agency. On the right, the signature of the crowd, in a video published in mid-March. (BELTA & VLADIMIR GABROV)
However, Belarus does not seem to have been associated with Wagner so far. In the short term, Alexander Lukashenko wants to expand his role in the negotiations during the Wagner March. The Russian Duma opened its session on Tuesday with applause for him and Vladimir Putin. The Belarusian President has made new declarations of loyalty to Moscow. Thereafter ? “The only advantage that the Belarusian leader could derive from this would be to use Prigozhin’s men as a personal army against a possible uprising,” Katia Glod of the European Leadership Network in London told AFP.
The mercenary’s arrival certainly smacks of exile. Vladimir Putin said that between May 2022 and May 2023 the Wagner group received 86 billion rubles (920 million euros). But also that the “owner of the catering company Concord”, namely Yevgeny Prigozhin, earned more than 80 billion rubles from contracts with a subsidiary of the Ministry of Defense. “I hope nobody stole anything, but we will take care of everything,” said the Russian president. No doubt giving his former chef a final warning was history.