On Monday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, made his first public comment since ending the insurgency in Russia.
He said the purpose of the rally, organized by the group, was to record a protest against the way the special military operation was conducted in Ukraine, not the overthrow of the government in Moscow.
Prigozhin added, in an 11-minute audio message, posted on the Telegram application, “We went to protest, not to overthrow the power in the country.”
Prigozhin indicated in his message, without revealing his whereabouts, that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who was a mediator between Russia and the group on Saturday, “reached out and offered to find solutions in order to continue the work of the Wagner Group.”
Prigozhin was last seen on Saturday leaving the southern city of Rostov-on-Don in a military convoy. His destination was not clear.
The agreement, brokered by Lukashenko, provides for the return of the Wagner Group fighters to their camps, their integration into the Russian army, and the transfer of their leader, Prigozhin, to Belarus.
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