Aleksandr Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, has announced Yevgeny Prigozin, the founder of the Wagner Group, has arrived in the nation.
The Kremlin had earlier declared Prigozhin’s exile in Belarus as a condition of the agreement that put an end to his weekend insurrection against the Russian military.
The mercenary leader is rumoured to have flown into Belarus on a plane on Tuesday morning from Rostov, Russia, and Lukashenko has confirmed his arrival in remarks to state media.
‘I see Prigozhin is already flying in on this plane,’ Lukashenko was quoted as saying by BELTA. ‘Yes, indeed, he is in Belarus today.’
He added that 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’ regarding their stay.
Lukashenko told state media that Belarus is not building any camps for the group, but will accommodate them if they want.
‘We offered them one of the abandoned military bases. Please – we have a fence, we have everything – put up your tents,’ he said.
Lukashenko was also quoted as saying there were no plans to open any Wagner recruitment centres in Belarus.
In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin praised Russia’s armed forces for preventing a civil war as he sought to reassert his authority after the mutiny led by Prigozhin in protest against the Russian military’s handling of the conflict in Ukraine.
Russian authorities also dropped a criminal case against his Wagner Group mercenary force, state news agency RIA reported, apparently fulfilling another condition of the deal brokered by Lukashenko late on Saturday that defused the crisis.
Prigozhin, a former Putin ally and ex-convict whose mercenaries have fought the bloodiest battles of the Ukraine war and taken heavy casualties, had earlier said he would go to neighbouring Belarus at the invitation of Lukashenko, a close Putin ally.
Prigozhin was seen on Saturday night smiling and high-fiving bystanders as he rode out of Rostov in the back of an SUV after ordering his men to stand down. He has not yet been seen in public in Belarus.
Putin meanwhile told some 2,500 security personnel mustered for a ceremony on a square in the Kremlin complex that the people and the armed forces had stood together in opposition to the rebel mercenaries.
‘You have defended the constitutional order, the lives, security and freedom of our citizens. You have saved our Motherland from upheaval. In fact, you have stopped a civil war,’ he said.
Putin was joined by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, whose dismissal had been one of the mutineers’ main demands.
Putin also requested a minute of silence to honour Russian military pilots killed in the revolt. The fighters had shot down several aircraft during their run towards Moscow, although they faced no resistance on the ground.
On Monday night, Putin said in a televised address that the mutiny leaders had betrayed their motherland, although he did not mention Prigozhin by name. Wagner fighters would be permitted to establish themselves in Belarus, join the Russian military or go home, he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news briefing on Tuesday the deal ending the mutiny was being implemented. He also said he did not know how many Wagner fighters would sign contracts with the Defence Ministry.
He dismissed the idea that Putin’s grip on power had been shaken by the mutiny, calling such thoughts ‘hysteria’.
In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly address that the military had made advances on Monday in all sectors of the front line, calling it a ‘happy day’.
Kyiv hopes the chaos caused by the mutiny attempt in Russia will undermine Russian defences as Ukraine presses on with a counteroffensive to recapture occupied territory. It claimed on Monday to have captured a ninth village in the south where it has been advancing since early June.