Since the rebellion, which took place on June 23-24, when Wagner’s fighters briefly captured a city in southern Russia before marching towards the capital, Moscow, the exact whereabouts of Prigozhin and his group’s forces remained unknown.
Under the agreement, Prigozhin is supposed to move to Belarus, and Moscow also gave Wagner’s forces, some of them former convicts who were released early to participate in the fighting in Ukraine, the freedom to choose between moving with him to Belarus, joining the Russian regular armed forces, or returning to their homes.
But Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday that Prigozhin and thousands of Wagner fighters remain in Russia, raising questions about the implementation of the agreement.
A channel on the Telegram messaging app on Saturday quoted Anthony Lizarov, a commander in the Wagner Group who goes by the nickname Lotus, as saying the fighters were on vacation until early August, on Prigozhin’s orders, before moving to Belarus.
According to Yevgeny Prigozhin on Telegram channel, Ilizarov said, “We have to prepare bases and training grounds, coordinate with local governments and administrations, organize interaction with law enforcement agencies in Belarus, and establish logistical services.”
Prigozhin himself has been uncharacteristically silent for the past two weeks. He has not released any posts on his favorite Telegram channel (the press service of Yevgeny Prigozhin) since June 26, when he defended the rebellion.
Prigozhin, who has long been a harsh critic of the defense ministry and the Russian army’s handling of the war in Ukraine, said he had launched a “march of justice” towards Moscow to protest corruption and incompetence among top commanders.
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