No Longer Exile? The Curious Case of the Wagner Mercenary Group

No Longer Exile? The Curious Case of the Wagner Mercenary Group
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The story of the Wagner Mercenary Group, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, is a complex and intriguing one. Last month, the group experienced an armed mutiny, leading to a mediated agreement between Prigozhin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Under the terms of the deal, Prigozhin was to move to Belarus, along with any members of the group who did not wish to join the Russian Defence Ministry. However, no one from the group has yet visited the disused military camp that Lukashenko has offered for their use.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Russian defence and military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer cast the situation between Russia and Wagner as a ceasefire, saying that the Kremlin is not yet ready to take the mercenary force on.

This comes after months of tension between Prigozhin and the Russian leadership, where Prigozhin raged against them in foul-mouthed diatribes, accusing them of incompetence in their war efforts in Ukraine.

Leonid Kasinsky, an adviser to Minsk’s defence minister, has since confirmed that “They have not come, they have not looked”, in regards to the group's visit to the camp. Lukashenko added that the group is still in the permanent camps where they had been located since they left the front, and that he expected to discuss the matter in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has said it is not tracking Prigozhin’s movements, but state-backed media has turned more sharply against the mercenary chief in recent days. So, is this the end of Prigozhin's exile? The answer is still up in the air, and questions remain as to what the future holds for the Wagner Mercenary Group. It's unclear how the situation will play out, but one thing is for certain: it's a story worth watching.


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