2 yıl önce

Belarus leader Lukashenko confirms Wagner chief Prigozhin still in Russia

The Kremlin says it is "not following" Yevgeny Prigozhin's movements, nearly two weeks after the June 23 mutiny that saw armed fighters on the march toward Moscow.

AP

Images broadcast by Russian media on Wednesday showed police entering Prigozhin's residence, a vast and luxurious mansion with a helicopter parked in the grounds, reportedly on June 25. / Photo: AP

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is still in Russia, Belarus's president has said, raising questions about the deal to end the mercenary leader's mutiny last month.

"As far as Prigozhin is concerned, he is in Saint Petersburg... He is not in Belarus," Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for nearly three decades, told reporters from foreign media outlets in Minsk on Thursday.

Lukashenko mediated a deal to end Prigozhin's revolt against Russian President Vladimir Putin's rule — that was to see the mercenary head into Belarusian exile.

Speaking in the presidential palace, Lukashenko said he knew "for sure" that Prigozhin was a free man, adding: "I spoke to him on the phone yesterday".

The Kremlin replied by saying it was "not following" Prigozhin's movements, nearly two weeks after the June 23 mutiny that saw armed fighters on the march toward Moscow.

Lukashenko said that members of Prigozhin's Wagner mercenary group have not established a base in Belarus yet, despite an offer from the Kremlin for those who took part in the failed mutiny to do so.

"At the moment the question of their transfer and set-up has not been decided," Lukashenko said.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin reaches Belarus after brief revolt in Russia

Biggest attack on civilian infrastructure

Lukashenko's comments came hours after what Lviv's mayor said was the biggest attack on civilian infrastructure in the city since the start of the Russian military campaign in February 2022.

Rescue workers were clawing through rubble in the UNESCO-protected western Ukrainian city of Lviv, which was hit by a Russian missile early on Thursday that killed four and injured dozens more.

Ukraine's Lviv region in the west, hundreds of kilometres from the frontlines and near the Polish border, has largely been spared the aerial onslaughts.

Interior Minister Igor Klymenko wrote on Telegram that the missiles had struck a residential building.

"The 3rd and 4th floors in two sections of the house were destroyed," he said.

At least four people had been killed in the attack and 32 were wounded, including a child, the emergency services said later, updating an initial toll.

More than 50 apartments were "ruined" and a dormitory at Lviv Polytechnic University was damaged, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi posted on Telegram.