Kiev announced “de-escalation” over the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant

The leader of the “Wagner” group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, returned to the forefront of events, Thursday, after the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that he was leaving the lands of his country to go to St. Petersburg, the first direct and major violation of the agreement. Two weeks ago to resolve the military mutiny case he led.

Lukashenko revealed in a surprising statement that the founder of “Wagner” is “not in Belarus, but in St. Petersburg, Russia.” The Belarusian “Belta” agency quoted the president: “Yevgeny Prigozhin, in St. Petersburg … where is this Thursday morning, I don’t know? He may have gone to Moscow in the morning,” Prigozhin insisted, “not on the territory of Belarus.”

Lukashenko told journalists working in foreign media during a press conference in Minsk that “Wagner” fighters are “in their camps” and “not in Belarus yet”. He added, “If (the Russian government and the Wagner group) deem it necessary to send several Wagner fighters to Belarus to rest and train (…), I will implement my decision to receive them.”

Lukashenko insisted, “I don’t think Wagner will rebel against Belarus.”

The “Wagner” uprising shook Russian power on June 24 amid the conflict in Ukraine. For several hours, the fighters of “Wagner” occupied the general headquarters of the Russian army in Rostov, southwestern Russia, and advanced hundreds of kilometers towards Moscow. The revolt ended with Prigozhin agreeing to move to Belarus, but the latter’s whereabouts remain unknown. He has not issued any statement since last June 26. Prigozhin confirmed that his rebellion was not aimed at overthrowing the regime in Russia, but rather to save the Wagner group from being ousted by Russian military personnel whom he accused of being incompetent in the Ukrainian conflict.

At the same time, Lukashenko said that Wagner fighters are still in their camps, that they live permanently, and that they moved after withdrawing from the front. He said that if these fighters were stationed on the border of his country, Belarus would not be in any danger. The President of Belarus said that he offered “Wagner” forces to live in former military camps on the territory of Belarus.

He explained. Units are not resolved.”

Lukashenko, earlier, announced that he welcomed dealings with the “Wagner” forces, indicating that the group had important capabilities that could be “useful”, but at the same time, stressed that “the armed forces in Belarus are ready”. Fighting, their skills are not inferior.” One of Wagner’s abilities was, “The experience that (Wagner’s) troops and their leaders have, they will transfer to our armed forces. That is the military experience they have. The experience we need. The tactics of military operations, primarily.

At the same time, Lukashenko noted that “the issue of stationing Wagner’s special military units in Belarus has not yet been resolved, and this will not happen in principle if the Russian leadership makes such a decision.”

Alluding to Western warnings that the group’s fighters would be used to attack Ukraine from Belarusian territory, Lukashenko said, “Wagner Special Forces Group will not attack any party from Belarusian territory (…) We have not attacked. And we will not attack any party, and we will respond only if aggression is committed against us. If it happens, the Wagner group will participate, as will the Belarusian army, in protecting our interests.

Meanwhile, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov refrained from confirming or denying the validity of the Belarusian data, saying the “Kremlin” was “not monitoring Yevgeny Prigozhin’s movements” and the “Kremlin” was “not monitoring his movements.” We don’t have the ability or the will to do that.

At the same time, the spokesman of the Russian president emphasized that “the agreement on the departure of the private military company Wagner to Belarus is still valid,” “this is one of the terms of the agreement to end the rebellion.”

Meanwhile, Russian security forces carried out raids targeting Prigozhin’s residences in Moscow and St. Petersburg, with the Russian Central Security Service (Ministry) announcing that its units had found numerous weapons and large sums of money in local and foreign currency, as well as several passports. , “Wagner” tour of the commander’s house, as well as disguises; One of them has a wig. Russian Channel One showed large amounts of handguns, rifles and cash from Prigozhin’s office and home, as well as a small helicopter parked in Prigozhin’s yard.

On the other hand, the Belarusian president called on his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to “sit at the negotiating table” and “take advantage of the current opportunity in light of the counterattack.”

Lukashenko told reporters: “Today (Kiev leaders) have to think again, while there is a set of files on the table, a whole set of issues that can be agreed upon. Tomorrow it will be impossible. After the counter-attack is called, the situation will change. He added, “We must now stop and sit at the negotiating table. Without prerequisites. Everything should be discussed at the negotiation table and a decision should be taken,” he said.

Lukashenko added that Zelensky “finally realized that he will not win, and that this counteroffensive will not end in anything other than the death of thousands and thousands of people. Therefore, Zelensky has already begun to take steps to gradually exit this situation. Negotiations will begin in the fall,” Lukashenko said.

On the ground, the Russian Defense Ministry announced Thursday that it had “conducted a high-precision attack” on Thursday night against temporary deployment points for Ukrainian forces and foreign mercenaries, as well as warehouses containing Western military armored vehicles. All targets are accurate.”

According to the daily briefing on the course of the battles, Russian forces targeted with a concentrated strike, during which they used precision, long-range weapons launched from the sea, temporary deployment points of Ukrainian forces and groups of foreign mercenaries, as well as warehouses with armored vehicles and Western armored vehicles, and “all precisely Limited targets were also attacked, causing heavy losses to the enemy’s strategic reserves.

“Over the past day, all Ukrainian offensive attempts on the Donetsk, Krasny Limansk and Kubiansk axes have been repelled,” the military statement added.

—