Exiled Wagner Chief Lands in Belarus, Putin Says ‘Civil War’ Averted

Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin shows Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin his school lunch factory outside Saint Petersburg on Sept. 20, 2010. Alexey Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has arrived in Belarus, according to Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, who helped broker a deal under which the Wagner chief halted his soldiers’ push toward Moscow and agreed to leave Russia as an exile.

“Yes, today he’s in Belarus,” Lukashenko said on June 27, according to Belta, the Belarussian state news agency.

The Wagner chief’s arrival in Belarus was also recorded by flight tracking website Flightradar24, which showed a Prigozhin-linked Embraer Legacy 600 jet with the call sign RA-02795 landing in Minsk, the Belarussian capital, on Tuesday morning.

Over the weekend, Prigozhin led a short-lived but intense Wagner rebellion that came within a few hundred miles of Moscow before abruptly halting and turning back.

A long-time associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin insisted the Wagner push towards Moscow was no coup against the country’s leadership but a “march for justice” in protest against Russia’s top military brass.

Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin makes a statement on the start of the withdrawal of his forces from Bakhmut and handing over their positions to regular Russian troops, in the course of Russia–Ukraine conflict in Bakhmut, Ukraine, on May 25, 2023. Concord/Handout via Reuters

Prigozhin has openly feuded with military leaders amid the war in Ukraine, accusing them of starving Wagner forces of weapons and supplies, and even alleging they tried to destroy the private military group with air strikes.

Putin on Monday labeled the organizers of the apparent mutiny as traitors, though he thanked Wagner soldiers for halting their advance and preventing bloodshed. On Tuesday he said that a “civil war” had been averted in part thanks to the posture of the Russian military and law enforcement.

“The military and law enforcement officers of the Russian Federation actually stopped the civil war,” Putin told members of the armed forces in Moscow’s Cathedral Square on Tuesday.

‘Stopped at the Last Line to Prevent Bloodshed’

In a televised speech on Monday, Putin thanked Wagner soldiers for halting their advance before blood was spilled and praised them for their battlefield accomplishments in Ukraine.

“We know that the overwhelming majority of the Wagner company are also patriots of Russia, faithful to their people and country,” Putin said, praising them for having proved their patriotism and courage in combat operations in eastern Ukraine, where Wagner forces have done much of the fighting.

“I thank those commanders and soldiers of the Wagner private company who took the only right decision,” he added, “and stopped at the last line to prevent bloodshed.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on monitors as he addresses the nation after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, called for armed rebellion and reached the southern city of Rostov-on-Don with his troops, in Moscow, Russia, on June 24, 2023. Pavel Bednyakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Putin said that Russia’s enemies including the “all sorts of national traitors” as well as the “neo-Nazis in Kyiv” and their Western backers all wanted to see the Wagner “march” turn into a chaotic coup.

“It was precisely this outcome—fratricide—that Russia’s enemies wanted: both the neo-Nazis in Kyiv, and their Western patrons, and all sorts of national traitors,” Putin said.

“They wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other, to kill military personnel and civilians, so that in the end Russia would lose, and our society would split, choke in bloody civil strife,” the Russian leader added.

In his speech, Putin offered Wagner fighters the opportunity to go to Belarus, be folded into the regular Russian army, or simply go home to their families.

He also thanked Lukashenko, who reportedly helped broker the deal that gave Prigozhin and members of his private army amnesty and the opportunity to relocate to Belarus.

Lukashenko addressed the matter on Tuesday, saying that, “We’ll help you if you want to stay with us for a while at [Wagner’s] expense of course,” according to Belta.

“But I could use such a unit in the army,” Lukashenko said, adding that he had instructed the Belarusian defense minister to discuss Wagner’s possible deployment in Belarus.

It comes as speculation has swirled around whether the Kremlin–Wagner truce would hold as Western officials have questioned whether another act is yet to play out in the dramatic saga.

Prigozhin Breaks Silence

Prigozhin released an audio message on his Telegram channel on June 26, saying that Wagner’s push toward Moscow wasn’t an attempted coup, but a “march” of protest.

“The purpose of the march was to prevent the destruction of PMC Wagner and to bring to justice those who, through their unprofessional actions, made a huge number of mistakes during the special military operation,” he said in the message.

Russia called its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation” to “de-Nazify” and demilitarize its neighbor, which it accuses of seeking to become a NATO bulwark on Russia’s borders that threatens Moscow’s security.

Days earlier, Prigozhin set out on a warpath against Russia’s Defense Ministry after an alleged attack by the Russian army on his mercenaries’ military camp, which Prigozhin alleged had been ordered by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu himself.

On June 24, the Wagner chief said that he had ordered his troops to return to their bases in Ukraine and continue fighting there on behalf of Russia, while the Belarus President’s Office, which mediated the deal, suggested criminal charges against Prigozhin would be dropped.

After the truce was announced, Prigozhin left Rostov-on-Don, with some residents giving him and his mutineers a hero’s send-off while he smiled for cameras.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the Wagner Group military company, greets supporters as he prepares to leave Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

‘Intrigues and Ill-Considered Decisions’

Prigozhin said in his June 26 message that “as a result of intrigues and ill-considered decisions,” the Russian leadership had decided to break up the Wagner group and that the march on Moscow was meant as an act of protest, not a coup.

“We felt that demonstrating what we wanted to do was enough,” he said, offering an explanation for why the Wagner advance on Moscow was halted and its troops ordered back to base.

In a message on June 24, Prigozhin said that he objected to moves by Russia’s military establishment to disband Wagner.

“They wanted to disband the Wagner military company. We embarked on a march of justice on June 23. In 24 hours, we got to within 200 kilometers of Moscow. In this time, we did not spill a single drop of our fighters’ blood,” he said.

“Now the moment has come when blood could be spilled. Understanding responsibility [for the chance] that Russian blood will be spilled on one side, we are turning our columns around and going back to field camps as planned.”

Fighters of Wagner, a Russian private mercenary group, are seen atop a tank while being deployed near the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. Stringer/Reuters

After the Belarus-mediated deal was announced, the Kremlin said it would drop “armed mutiny” charges against Wagner fighters.

“We have always respected their heroic deeds at the front,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow, adding that Russian authorities were grateful to Belarus President Aleksander Lukashenko for his role in deescalating the crisis.

Peskov said that Wagner fighters who didn’t take part in the rebellion would be offered contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry, which had been seeking to bring all autonomous volunteer forces under its control by July 1, an effort that Prigozhin apparently saw as a threat to Wagner’s existence.

It has been reported that, as part of the deal, Prigozhin wouldn’t face any charges.

However, several reports published by the state-run RIA Novosti and Interfax news agencies—citing anonymous sources within the Russian government—said that the investigation into the Wagner revolt remains ongoing.

Putin’s speech on June 26 did not address Prigozhin himself nor any potential charges that he might face.