Diksia.com - The head of private military company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, made his first public appearance after an attempted coup against Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Russia was halted on June 24, 2023.
Yevgeny Prigozhin can be seen in a video on Wednesday (07/19/2023) talking to Wagner soldiers in Belarus.
“Welcome to Belarusian land! We fought with dignity. We’ve done a lot for Russia!” he said via the Wagner Orchestra Telegram channel, quoted from The Guardian.
In his remarks, Yevgeny Prigozhin continued his criticism of the Russian conduct of the military war against Ukraine.
He said Wagner’s troops would not be fighting in Ukraine for the time being and referred to the war situation at the front.
“What is happening now at the front is a disgrace that we do not have to be a part of,” he said.
According to him, Wagner can return to Ukraine if they are sure that they will not be forced into humiliation.
“We can return to special military operations when we are sure we will not be forced to embarrass ourselves,” he said.
“(We will) wait for the moment where we can fully prove ourselves,” he added.
The Wagner leader said his fighters would remain in Belarus for some time.
Wagner will train the Belarusian army to be the second strongest in the world.
“During this period, we will make the Belarusian army the second strongest army in the world. We will train, raise our level and start a new trip to Africa,” said Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“The Belarusians met us as brothers,” said Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Last week, Belarusian state television broadcast a video of instructor Wagner training Belarusian territorial defense troops.
Earlier, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country’s military could benefit from Wagner’s combat experience.
He also rejected claims that Wagner’s presence could harm his country.
Wagner arrives in Belarus
Earlier, the Belarusian Defense Ministry released a video showing the arrival of Wagner soldiers in their country.
But before moving to Belarus, Wagner turned over his guns to the Russian military as part of Russian authorities’ efforts to defuse the mercenary threat, according to AP News.
In addition, the Ukrainian border guards also confirmed that Wagner mercenaries from neighboring Russia had meanwhile arrived in Belarus.
They waved Russian flags and Wagner flags and made their way to the field camp offered by the Belarusian government.
According to an unconfirmed report, a convoy of around 60 Wagner vehicles crossed the border into Belarus on Saturday morning (07/15/2023).
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed last week that Yevgeny Prigozhin turned down an offer to step down as Wagner boss and allow his mercenaries to continue fighting in Ukraine.
Instead, around 2,000 Wagner fighters have sought refuge in Belarus.
Yevgeny Prigozhin is to train Belarusian territorial troops at a training camp in the city of Asipovichy.
