Wagner boss Prigozhin has returned to Russia, Lukashenko says

Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has returned to Russia, the Belarusian president has said, despite a peace deal with the Kremlin under which he had agreed to relocate to Belarus.

“As for Prigozhin, he’s in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus,” the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko told reporters on Thursday. “Where is Prigozhin this morning? Maybe he left for Moscow.”

Related: ‘He lived by the troll, he dies by the troll’: Putin takes on Prigozhin’s business empire

Lukashenko said Wagner fighters were stationed at their camps in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, adding that his offer to host them in Belarus remained.

Under a deal brokered by Lukashenko, Prigozhin abandoned what he called a “march for justice” by thousands of his recruits on Moscow, in exchange for safe passage to exile in Belarus. Criminal charges against Prigozhin were dropped last week as part of the agreement.

Lukashenko also said that Putin would not “wipe out” Prigozhin because the Russian president was not “malevolent and vindictive,” suggesting that the mercenary head was safe from the country’s security services.

The Belarusian dictator added that he planned to discuss the future of Wagner during an upcoming meeting with Putin.

Prigozhin, a 62-year-old former convict who rose to become Russia’s most powerful mercenary, was last seen in public when he left Rostov-on-Don, a city in southern Russia that his troops occupied briefly.

There were already questions about whether Prigozhin was sticking to the terms of the deal.

The warlord has not been photographed in Belarus, and Prigozhin’s jet has flown between Belarus and Moscow and St Petersburg several times, fuelling speculation about the warlord’s whereabouts.

Responding to Lukashenko’s comments, Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin did not follow Prigozhin’s movements.

“We do not have the desire nor the capability to do so,” the spokesperson told journalists during his daily call.

Peskov added that the brokered deal under which Prigozhin relocates to Belarus “remains relevant.”

Speaking on the Telegram messaging app on Monday for the second time since his aborted rebellion, Prigozhin thanked supporters inside Russia. “Today we need your support more than ever,” he said, promising new victories at the front “in the near future”.

Related: The Wagner uprising: 24 hours that shook Russia

Meanwhile, Russian state media on Wednesday launched a fierce attack on Prigozhin as part of the Kremlin’s efforts to discredit him in the eyes of the Russian public.

Rossiya-1 TV channel aired what it said was exclusive footage shot during an FSB security service raid on Prigozhin’s private estates in St Petersburg. The FSB said it found weapons, gold bars and a closet full of wigs at the opulent mansion.

The pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia also published footage of the raid, showing a giant sledgehammer inscribed with the words “for use in important negotiations” displayed in one of the rooms.

Last week, Moscow began to dismantle Prigozhin’s corporate empire, closing down some of his media assets.

The Kremlin has also cracked down on Wagner sympathisers within the Russian army following the militia’s failure, reportedly detaining top Russian general Sergei Surovikin.

Surovikin, 56, a veteran military officer nicknamed “General Armageddon” for his ruthless tactics, hasn’t been seen since the short-lived rebellion ended on 24 June. According to several media reports, Surovikin was being interrogated over his links to Prigozhin at an undisclosed location.

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