Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed on Tuesday that Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the mercenary group Wagner, has arrived in Belarus after a short-lived armed mutiny in Russia.
Prigozhin鈥檚 exile in Belarus had been announced by the Kremlin announced earlier as part of the deal that ended the rebellion.
Lukashenko on Tuesday said Prigozhin has moved to Belarus and he and some of his troops would be welcome to stay in Belarus 鈥渇or some time鈥� at their own expense.
Russian authorities said Tuesday they have closed a criminal investigation into the aborted led by the mercenary chief and are pressing no charges against him or his troops.
The Federal Security Service, or FSB, said its investigation found that those involved in the mutiny, which lasted less than 24 hours after Prigozhin declared it Friday, 鈥渃eased activities directed at committing the crime,鈥� so the case would not be pursued.
It was the latest twist in a series of stunning events that have brought the gravest threat so far to President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 grip on power amid the 16-month-old .
Over the weekend, the Kremlin pledged not to prosecute Prigozhin and his fighters after he stopped the revolt on Saturday, even though Putin had branded them as traitors and authorities rushed to fortify Moscow鈥檚 defenses as the mutineers approached the capital.
The charge of mounting an armed mutiny is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Prigozhin escaping prosecution poses a stark contrast to how the Kremlin has treated those staging anti-government protests in Russia, where have gotten long sentences in notoriously harsh penal colonies.
The whereabouts of Prigozhin remained a mystery Tuesday. The Kremlin has said he would be exiled to neighboring Belarus, but neither he nor have confirmed that.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had no information on the 62-year-old .
An independent Belarusian military monitoring project Belaruski Hajun said a business jet that Prigozhin reportedly uses landed near Minsk on Tuesday morning. The media team for Prigozhin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Belarus鈥� authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close Putin ally who brokered a deal with Prigozhin to stop the uprising, didn鈥檛 immediately address Prigozhin鈥檚 fate in a speech Tuesday.
Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron hand for 29 years, relentlessly stifling dissent and relying on Russian subsidies and political support, portrayed the uprising as the latest development in a clash between Prigozhin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Their long-simmering personal feud has at times boiled over, and Prigozhin has said the revolt aimed to unseat Shoigu, not Putin.
Lukashenko framed the insurrection as a significant menace, saying he put Belarus鈥� armed forces on a combat footing as the mutiny unfolded.
Lukashenko said he had urged Putin not to be hasty in his response, adding that a conflict with Wagner could have spiraled out of control.
Like Putin, Lukashenko couched the Ukraine war in terms of an existential threat to Russia, saying: 鈥淚f Russia collapses, we all will perish under the debris.鈥�
Peskov refused to disclose any details about the Kremlin鈥檚 deal with the Wagner chief. He said only that Putin had provided Prigozhin with 鈥渃ertain promises 鈥� certain guarantees,鈥� with the aim of avoiding a 鈥渨orst-case scenario.鈥�
The mercenaries shot down at least six Russian helicopters and a military communications plane as they advanced on Moscow, according to Russian news reports. The Defense Ministry didn鈥檛 release any information about casualties, but media reports said at least a dozen airmen were killed.
Asked why the rebels were allowed to get as close as about 200 kilometers (about 125 miles) from Moscow without facing any serious resistance, National Guard chief Viktor Zolotov said authorities tried to assemble a strong force capable of stopping the onslaught.
鈥淲e concentrated our forces in one fist closer to Moscow,鈥� he told reporters. 鈥淚f we spread them thin, they would have come like a knife through butter.鈥�
Zolotov also said the National Guard lacks battle tanks and other heavy weapons and now would get them.
In a nationally televised address Monday night, Putin again blasted organizers of the rebellion as traitors who played into the hands of and its allies. Although critical of Prigozhin, Putin praised Wagner troops鈥� action in Ukraine and credited those who 鈥渄idn鈥檛 engage in fratricidal bloodshed and stopped on the brink.鈥�
That was 鈥渓ikely in an effort to retain them鈥� in the fight in Ukraine because Moscow needs 鈥渢rained and effective manpower鈥� as it faces a Ukrainian counteroffensive, according to a Washington-based think tank.
The Institute for the Study of War also noted the break between Putin and Prigozhin is likely beyond repair and that providing the Wagner chief and his loyalists with Belarus as an apparent safe haven could be a trap.
Prigozhin鈥檚 short-lived insurrection rattled Russia鈥檚 leadership, and Putin sought to .
In his speech Monday, he criticized the uprising鈥檚 鈥渙rganizers,鈥� without naming Prigozhin. He also praised Russian unity in the face of the crisis, as well as rank-and-file Wagner fighters for not letting the situation descend into 鈥渕ajor bloodshed.鈥�
Putin returned to this theme in a Kremlin speech Tuesday 鈥� his third in four days 鈥� to soldiers and law enforcement officers, praising them for averting 鈥渁 civil war.鈥� He again declared that the army and people didn鈥檛 support the mutiny, but avoided mentioning Prigozhin by name.
As part of the effort to cement Putin鈥檚 authority following the chaotic response to the mutiny, the ceremony featured Putin walking down the red-carpeted stairs of the Kremlin鈥檚 15th century white-stone Palace of Facets to address a lineup of troops.
Putin mentioned the casualties and honored them with a moment of silence.
鈥淧ilots, our combat comrades, died while confronting the mutiny,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 waver and fulfilled the orders and their military duty with dignity.鈥�
Putin鈥檚 mention of the deaths comes amid angry statements from some Russian war bloggers and patriotic activists who vented outrage about Prigozhin and his troops not getting punished for killing the airmen. Prigozhin voiced regret for the deaths in an audio statement Monday, but said Wagner troops fired because they were getting bombed.
In another show of projecting authority, Putin was shown meeting Monday night with top security, law enforcement and military officials, including Shoigu.
Putin thanked his team for their work over the weekend, implying support for the embattled Shoigu. Earlier, authorities released video of Shoigu reviewing troops in Ukraine.
In his defiant statement Monday, Prigozhin taunted the Russian military but said he hadn鈥檛 been seeking to stage a coup against Putin.
It isn鈥檛 clear whether he will be able to keep his mercenary force. Putin has offered Prigozhin鈥檚 fighters to either come under Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry鈥檚 command, leave service or go to Belarus.
Prigozhin said, without elaborating, that the Belarusian leadership proposed solutions that would allow Wagner to operate 鈥渋n a legal jurisdiction,鈥� but it was unclear what that meant.
Lukashenko said there is no reason to fear Wagner鈥檚 presence in his country, though in Russia there have been recent incidents of Wagner-recruited convicts being .
The Wagner troops have 鈥減riceless鈥� military knowledge and experience they can share with Belarus, Lukashenko said during a meeting with his defense minister, including tactics and weapons.
But exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who challenged Lukashenko in a 2020 election that was widely seen as fraudulent and triggered mass protests, said Wagner troops will threaten the country and its neighbors.
鈥淏elarusians don鈥檛 welcome war criminal Prigozhin,鈥� she told The Associated Press. 鈥淚f Wagner sets up military bases on our territory, it will pose a new threat to our sovereignty and our neighbors.鈥�
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