Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner Mercenary Chief Who Clashed With Putin’s Military in R
leadership of the country brings forward must be stopped. They have forgotten the word justice, and we will return it," Prigozhin said in an audio recording posted on Wagner’s social media on June 23. “Anyone attempting resistance will be considered a threat and immediately destroyed." The Wagner leader’s public appearances had been scant since he abandoned his insurrection on June 24 and was filmed leaving the southern Russian city of Rostov.
Prigozhin appears to have divided his time among Russia, Belarus and Africa since then. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko initially said Prigozhin was in his country after a deal was brokered to grant him immunity from prosecution in Russia. But a few days later, on June 29, Prigozhin was back in Moscow meeting with Putin and surrounded by Wagner commanders, it was later reported by the Kremlin.
Russian media showed what it said was a raid on Prigozhin’s offices and residence in Russia. At the start of July, Lukashenko said Prigozhin was no longer on his territory and that he was back in Russia. The Kremlin at the time said it wasn’t following Prigozhin’s movements and didn’t have the “ability or desire to do so." A few audio recordings since the mutiny and an unverified video posted this week on Telegram suggest the paramilitary chief had been in Africa, where his forces are deployed in Mali and where he praised the recent coup in Niger and offered his mercenaries’ services to the junta in Niamey.
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