The ousted boss of the Wagner mercenary group is in Russia despite agreeing to relocate to Belarus, president Alexander Lukashenko has said.
Yevgeny Prigozhin agreed to relocate to Belarus after calling off his attempted mutiny last month in a deal brokered by Mr Lukashenko.
Mr Lukashenko told reporters on Thursday: “As for Prigozhin, he’s in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus.”
The president of Belarus added that an offer for Wagner to station some of its fighters in Belarus still stands.
It is thought that there are some 25,000 within the private army after suffering sizeable losses in Ukraine.
Despite the agreement, Mr Lukashenko added: “As far as I am informed this morning, Wagner PMC fighters are in their camps.
“In permanent camps, where they were after their withdrawal from the front for recovery.”
Amid rising tensions over Russia’s faltering invasion, Wagner troops took the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don in what Prigozhin called a “march for justice”.
On Wednesday, pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia posted pictures of Prigozhin’s St Petersburg palace following a raid by Russian security services.
Several more photos from the search of Prigozhin's home in St Petersburg.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) July 6, 2023
A uniform with his awards, wig collection, a sledgehammer (with the writing "in case of important negotiations") and a photo with cut off heads.
As it turns out, the title of Hero of Russia was awarded to… pic.twitter.com/YJDoQJktlX
Pictures showed a trove of guns, ammunition, gold bars, a stuffed alligator and a cupboard full of wigs at the grand residence.
Elsewhere, a framed photo allegedly showing the severed heads of his enemies was found as well as huge amounts of cash in various currencies.
