Russia's mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is in St. Petersburg and his Wagner troops have remained at the camps where they had stayed before an abortive mutiny, the President of Belarus said on July 6.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko helped broker a deal for Mr. Prigozhin to his rebellion on June 24 in exchange for security guarantees for himself and his soldiers and permission to move to Belarus.
After saying last week that Mr. Prigozhin was in Belarus, Mr. Lukashenko told international reporters on July 6 that the mercenary chief is in St. Petersburg and Wagner troops still were at their camps.
He did not specify the location of the camps, but Mr. Prigozhin's mercenaries fought alongside Russian forces in Ukraine before their revolt.
The rebellion saw them quickly sweep over the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and capture military headquarters there before marching on the Russian capital in what Mr. Prigozhin described as a “march of justice” to oust the Russian Defence Minister and the General Staff chief.
Mr. Prigozhin claimed his troops had come within 200 kilometres of Moscow when he ordered them to stop the advance under the deal brokered by Mr. Lukashenko.
The abortive rebellion represented the biggest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power and exposed the Kremlin's weakness.
Mr. Lukashenko's statement followed Russian media reports that claimed that Mr. Prigozhin was spotted in St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city. His presence was seen as part of agreements that allowed him to finalise his affairs there.
