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He and his troops (Wagner Group) were heading up to Moscow when a truce arranged by Lukashenko, the Belarusian dictator and Putin ally, persuaded Prigozhin to halt his journey.
What we know of the terms of the deal is that he goes into exile in Belarus, no charges filed. The troops who participated in the revolt will be discharged with no charges against them and those who did not participate will be absorbed into the Russian army.
Prigozhin tells us he revolted because he was not getting the needed support from the Russian military, even as his troops were the fiercest of fighters against Ukraine. And he said that Russia’s military had attacked and killed his soldiers.
Prigozhin was demanding that Generals Shoigu and Gerasimov, defense minister and chief of staff respectively, should resign.
After hours of silence, Putin called Prigozhin’s rebellion a ‘stab in the back’ and sometime thereafter we learned of Lukashenko’s mediation.
Advice to Prigozhin — leave Belarus asap. Fly to Africa where he has troops involved in all kinds of activities supporting local dictators in exchange for a share of their mineral riches. Lukashenko is a close ally of Putin whose assistance was critical to stifle a Belarusian revolt after tampering with the election results a few years ago.
Lukashenko’s prisons are filled with political prisoners and there are plenty of Russian informers throughout keeping an eye for signs of…
