The armed uprising orchestrated by Yevgeny Prigozhin's mercenaries, positioned 200 kilometers from Moscow before their alleged escape to Belarus, has plunged Russia into its most significant political crisis in decades, Euronews reports.
As the country's president addresses the military and expresses gratitude to those supposedly involved in averting widespread bloodshed, political leaders worldwide comment on the situation. Alexei Navalny, a prominent opposition figure currently serving a prison sentence, asserts that no one has come to the defense of the regime.
Reports from Minsk suggest that the founder of a private military company, which has received a staggering 86.3 billion rubles from the Russian budget since May 2022, is now in the neighboring republic. According to Belarusian Telegram channels, Prigozhin's business jet landed at the Machulishchy military airfield and departed for Russia almost 15 hours later.
Alexander Lukashenko, who hosted the Wagner Group mercenaries, declares himself a participant in the events and compares his role to that of President Putin, rather than merely a mediator in negotiations. Concerns are mounting in the West regarding the presence of the Wagner Group near the Eastern borders of the European Union, leading to heightened tensions and calls for international action.
Meanwhile, the United States has imposed sanctions on companies with ties to Wagner. The implications of the failed uprising on the PMC's activities abroad and Prigozhin's Russian assets remain uncertain. Recent reports indicate that Russian military police have apprehended four Wagner commanders in Syria, conducting raids on three Wagner Group headquarters in Deir ez-Zor, Hama, and Damascus, according to Saudi television channel "Al-Hadath."
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