Belarusian dictator tames Wagner leader Prigozhin: Lukashenko pulls Putin’s head out of the noose

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Perhaps it was all Prigozhin’s long-planned attempt at self-rescue: a pre-emptive strike to avoid protracted charges of treason. Conflict between Prigozhin and the Kremlin has been simmering for months. Yevgeny Prigozhin’s (62) possibly daring calculation seems to work. Without bloodshed, the leader of Wagner’s private army negotiated his own safety with an “attempted coup” against the Kremlin. The silent protagonist in the background: the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko (68).

The uprising must undoubtedly try to overthrow war president Vladimir Putin (70). Early Saturday morning, the Wagner mercenaries clearly stated on Telegram: “Soon we will have a new president.” Prigoschin gambled heavily on the – perhaps only alleged – coup attempt: without shedding a drop of blood, the Wagner boss stopped his columns about 200 kilometers from Moscow. A few minutes earlier, the press service of Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko (68) reported that he had persuaded Prigozhin to give up after talking to Putin.

According to the Minsk statement on Prigozhin’s turnaround, Lukashenko spent the whole day negotiating with the mercenary leader. As a result of these talks, Prigozhin agreed “that inciting bloody carnage on the territory of Russia is impermissible.” Prigozhin, for his part, did not once explicitly mention Lukashenko on Saturday.

Prigozhin in exile in Belarus

According to the press release, Prigozhin “accepted Lukashenko’s proposal” to stop the advance on Moscow and calm the situation: “At the moment there is a fully constructive and acceptable option to resolve the situation, with security guarantees for the Wagner fighters on the table .”

The Belarusian despot, Putin’s only ally in the Western Hemisphere, has assured Prigozhin safe conduct. Prigozhin moves to Belarusian exile. How long he can stay there is another question.

Lukashenko and Wagner’s boss are old friends

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov (55) confirmed the deal. Prigozhin travels to Belarus and faces criminal charges. “Lukashenko and Prigozhin have known each other for more than 20 years,” Peskov said, according to the TASS news agency.

This long-standing friendship and Putin’s agreement to such talks would have quickly defused this “rather difficult day of tragic events”. Lukashenko had “several talks” not only with Prigozhin, but also with Putin on Saturday.

If there are security guarantees for Prigozhin, they are a bitter pill to swallow for Putin. He promised to punish the rebels severely. But Prigozhin also has to swallow bitter pills. In Belarus he will almost never be safe from the dreaded Russian secret services – and in Russia he leaves behind a huge Wagner empire.

Prigozhin’s army

Prigozhin’s Wagner empire, led from the Baltic Sea metropolis of St. Petersburg, turned out to be one of the decisive factors in the war on the Ukrainian front. Wagner mercenaries are deployed in Africa and the Middle East. As photos from Rostov-on-Don, where Prigozhin fighters hijacked the military command early Saturday, the 25,000-strong mercenaries have state-of-the-art equipment, including trucks and armored vehicles that look like new.

US intelligence services assume that Prigozhin has been preparing for an action against the Kremlin for some time. Perhaps his constant demand for ammunition was excessive. The chief of the mercenaries is said to have stored weapons and ammunition near the border with Russia, CNN reported Saturday, citing unnamed intelligence sources.

Source: Blick