Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko assured Thursday that Wagner’s sulphurous boss, Evgeny Prigojine, was in Russia, despite the agreement reached after his abortive rebellion which provided for him to go into exile in Belarus.
In Ukraine, the night was marked by an unusual Russian strike on Lviv, a large western city. In particular, it hit a residential building and killed four people, wounding 37 others, the most destructive attack on this region since the start of the war, according to the authorities.
“As for Prigozhin, he is in Saint Petersburg. Where is he this morning? Maybe gone to Moscow, or elsewhere, but he is not on Belarusian territory, ”said Mr. Lukashenko during a press conference in Minsk.
According to him, Wagner’s fighters are also “in their permanent camps” in Ukraine and not in Belarus, “for the moment”.
Evguéni Prigojine was, according to the agreement made with the Kremlin via the mediation of Mr. Lukashenko which put an end to the Wagner mutiny on June 24, to go into exile in Belarus, an allied country and neighbor of Russia.
Asked about these claims, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied that Moscow “is not following the movements” of Wagner’s boss.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose authority was shaken by the revolt and who denounced Mr. Prigozhin as a “traitor”, had given Wagner’s fighters the choice of enlisting in the regular army, leaving for Belarus or return to civilian life.
Mr. Lukashenko announced on June 27 that Yevgeny Prigojine had arrived in Belarus and convinced Mr. Putin not to kill him.
“I know for certain that he is free,” said Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday, claiming to have had a telephone conversation “yesterday” with Mr. Prigojine who assured him that he would continue to “work for Russia”.
The Belarusian president said the issue of Wagner’s “relocation” to Belarus was “not settled”, while saying he was convinced that the Russian paramilitary group would “not revolt and return (not) its arms” against Minsk.
During his 24-hour mutiny which shook the Kremlin, Yevgeny Prigojine assured not wanting to seize power, but simply to protect Wagner from a dismantling by the Russian general staff, which he accuses of incompetence. .
Ingots, weapons and wigs seized during a search at Prigojine
” My mother is dead “
On the ground, the salvo of Russian missiles that hit the regional capital of Lviv overnight damaged more than 30 apartment buildings and other buildings, according to local authorities.
“This is the most destructive attack against the civilian population of the Lviv region since the beginning of the war,” the head of the regional military administration, Maksym Kozytsky, noted on Telegram.
At least four people were killed and 37 others injured, according to the Interior Ministry.
“I woke up from the first explosion, but we didn’t have time to leave the apartment. There was a second explosion, the ceiling started to fall,” Olya, a resident, told AFP.
“My mother is dead, my neighbors are dead. At this point, it looks like I’m the only one who survived on the fourth floor,” she added.
Zelensky in Bulgaria
Nearly a month after the start of the long-awaited Ukrainian counter-offensive, the general staff claimed progress “in some places” around the devastated city of Bakhmout, with no breakthrough elsewhere.
The Ukrainian army is confronted with powerful defensive lines made up of trenches and minefields. It calls on Westerners to speed up their deliveries of weapons, in particular F-16 warplanes and artillery ammunition.
Zelensky is visiting Bulgaria, a major ammunition producer, on Thursday to discuss arms deliveries and Kiev’s prospects for NATO membership ahead of a major Alliance summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, scheduled for 11 and July 12.
Russia considered that this visit by Mr. Zelensky illustrated kyiv’s desire to involve “more countries” in the conflict.
At the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, under Moscow control in southern Ukraine, “tensions are decreasing”, Natalia Goumeniouk, spokeswoman for the Ukrainian army for the southern front, reported on Thursday.
Moscow and kyiv accused each other for several days of an imminent provocation in this nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe.
Moscow finally announced to close a Finnish consulate and expel nine diplomats from this country, in retaliation for similar measures adopted by Helsinki in early June.