Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko claimed that he was the person to convince Vladimir Putinto allow Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Wagner, to escape to Belarus after the Wagner uprising he led failed last Saturday.
At a press conference, Lukashenko said that he attempted to persuade Prigozhin to not start a rebellion against Moscow and Russia’s leadership, but was unsuccessful.
Lukashenko recalled that Prigozhin was “half-crazed,” as he yelled obscenities at him for half an hour while on the phone which “was 10 times more” than his usual amount of obscenities. Lukashenko believes that Prigozhin was unaware that his life was in danger by starting this revolt.
He asserted that Prigozhin wanted to demand that Putin hand over the chief of the General Staff General Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Lukashenko told Prigozhin that he was sure he would not be successful in his demands.
Lukashenko additionally claimed that he stopped Putin from acting out and making a “harsh decision,” including a plan to kill Prigozhin.
Lukashenko warned Putin that if he did kill Prigozhin there would be an uprising led by the Wagner group and there would be many casualties which could kill thousands of Russians.
Prigozhin and Wagner have now been exiled to Belarus and all charges against him were dropped. The deal was brokered between the two men with the help of Lukashenko.
The rebellion occurred over last weekend after Prigozhin ordered his Wagner group mercenaries to march toward Moscow. It was unsure for days how Putin would react and whether Prigozhin would make it out of the ordeal alive.
It was confirmed by Lukashenko that Putin allowed Prigozhin to leave Russia. He arrived safely in Belarus on Tuesday.
Lukashenko is considered to be Europes’s “last dictator.” He has made dramatic statements publicly in the past that were later proven to be incorrect.
One example of this was in September 2020 when Lukashenko claimed that the reports that Alexei Navalny was poisoned were false. In fact, Navalny was treated for poisoning in Germany.
Since 1994, Lukashenko has been the president of Belarus and was reelected in 2020, but the election was seen as fraudulent by Belarusian citizens. This in turn created anger amongst the people and months of protests followed, which Lukashenko repressed. The dictator invited Russian troops into his country to help him maintain control.
