"Prigozhin is in Belarus"... Is the next destination Africa?

Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus, confirmed on the 27th (local time) that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group mercenary company that launched an armed rebellion in Russia, is in Belarus.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group
Photo by Yonhap News Agency

According to major foreign media on the day, President Lukashenko stated through local media, "Prigozhin is in Belarus."

Earlier, on the 23rd, Prigozhin led 25,000 mercenaries in an armed rebellion advancing toward Moscow. Following this, he withdrew the next day through Lukashenko's mediation and decided to seek asylum in Belarus, but his whereabouts were unknown until President Lukashenko confirmed his entry into Belarus.

President Lukashenko expressed his welcome for the Wagner mercenaries to stay in Belarus.

He said, "We offered them the use of one of the abandoned military bases," adding, "If the Wagner commander helps us, it would be valuable. We need to learn from them about combat experience such as attack and defense tactics."

However, it is uncertain whether Prigozhin will continue to stay in Belarus. There are opinions that it is difficult to guarantee Prigozhin's safety in Belarus, Russia's closest ally. President Putin also harshly criticized Prigozhin, saying he "betrayed his homeland and his followers."

Accordingly, there are expectations that Prigozhin will return to Africa, where he was previously active. Wagner forces are deployed in Africa amid local political instability, involved in civil wars or suppressing opposition forces against regimes.

Some speculate that Prigozhin might use Belarus as a new base to regroup his forces and participate in the Ukraine war to restore his honor.

Meanwhile, at a high-ranking generals' insignia awarding ceremony held that day, President Lukashenko reportedly evaluated that the current situation occurred because the conflict between Prigozhin and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu was not properly managed. Foreign media analyzed that this evaluation also implies that Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to properly manage the dispute.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.