Just hours after exiled founder of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin touched down in Belarus, Russia launched another missile attack on a Kramatorsk neighbourhood that was home to civilians.
Rocket attacks that demolished a cafe frequented by journalists and charity workers resulted in the deaths of four persons, including a 17-year-old girl, and 42 injuries.
Earlier today, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko told state media, “I see Prigozhin is already flying in on this plane,” that his visitor had arrived. He is, in fact, currently in Belarus.
Prigozin is believed to have boarded a plane from the Russian city of Rostov this morning, as part of a deal made to end his short-lived mutiny against the Russian military over the weekend.
Mr Lukashenko said Prigozhin and his troops would be welcome to stay in Belarus ‘for some time’ at their own expense, and that ‘security guarantees have been given’.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has spent most of today pushing the notion that his leadership has not been weakened by the rebellion.
He claimed that Wagner Group mercenaries, responsible for the attempted coup, were ‘entirely funded’ by the government, saying Russia has given them $1 billion in the last year.