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Wagner fighters preparing to move to Belarus, commander quoted as saying

FILE PHOTO: Russian Wagner fighters pull out of Rostov-on-Don

Fighters of Wagner private mercenary group pull out of the headquarters of the Southern Military District to return to base, in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko/File Photo

Mercenary fighters of Yevgeny Prigozhin鈥檚 Wagner group are preparing to move to Belarus under the terms of a deal that defused their mutiny against Russia鈥檚 military leadership, a senior commander of the group was quoted as saying.

Since the June 23-24 mutiny, which saw Wagner fighters briefly seize a southern Russian city and march towards Moscow, the exact whereabouts of Prigozhin and his mercenaries have been unclear.

Under the deal that ended the mutiny, Prigozhin was meant to move to Belarus and his men 鈥 some of them ex-convicts freed early to fight in Ukraine 鈥 were given the option to move with him to Belarus, join Russia鈥檚 regular armed forces, or go home.

However, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday that Prigozhin and thousands of his fighters were still in Russia, raising questions about the deal鈥檚 implementation.

Anton Yelizarov, whose nom de guerre is 鈥淟otus鈥, was quoted on Saturday by a channel on the Telegram messaging app as saying the fighters were now taking vacation until early August, on Prigozhin鈥檚 orders, before moving to Belarus.

鈥淲e have to prepare bases, training grounds, coordinate with local governments and administrations, organise interaction with the law enforcement agencies of Belarus and establish logistics,鈥 he was quoted by the 鈥淵evgeny Prigozhin on Telegram鈥 channel as saying.

Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the interview.

Prigozhin himself has gone uncharacteristically quiet over the past two weeks. He has not posted on his previously preferred Telegram channel 鈥 Yevgeny Prigozhin Press Service 鈥 since June 26, when he defended his fighters鈥 mutinous actions.

Empty camp

An adviser to Belarus鈥 defense ministry said on Friday that nobody from the Wagner group had yet visited the disused military camp that Lukashenko had offered for the fighters鈥 use.

Yelizarov said there had been no attempt by Russia鈥檚 security forces to 鈥渉it鈥 Wagner fighters since the mutiny.

Prigozhin, long fiercely critical of Russia鈥檚 defense ministry and General Staff chiefs over their handling of the war in Ukraine, said he launched his 鈥渕arch of justice鈥 on Moscow to protest against corruption and incompetence among the top brass.

Asked about recent attacks on Prigozhin in the Russian state media, Yelizarov said they were an attempt by Russia鈥檚 military establishment to drive a wedge between the mercenary chief and his Wagner fighters.

The attempt would fail, he said, because Prigozhin himself had created and moulded the Wagner fighters 鈥渨hen the state did not need us鈥. Yelizarov compared Prigozhin and his men to the mythical King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

This week, Russian state TV broadcast footage purportedly shot during law enforcement raids on Prigozhin鈥檚 St Petersburg office and one of his 鈥減alaces鈥.

It said an investigation against Prigozhin was still under way despite the June 24 deal, under which criminal charges against him over the failed mutiny were dropped.

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