Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin seen for first time in public since failed mutiny

Days after his failed coup attempt, Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was seen for the first time in public on Wednesday (July 19).

A video going viral purportedly shows a man bearing resemblance to Prigozhin greeting the Wagner troops in Berlin, according to CNN.

“Welcome guys! I am happy to greet you all. Welcome to the Belarusian land! We fought with dignity! We have done a lot for Russia,” theman seeming like Prigozhin was quoted as saying in the video.

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The clip was shared on pro-Wagner Telegram channels on Wednesday and then shared on Prigozhin’s account.

The video further shows a fighter purportedly addressing the man as “Yevgeny Viktorovich,” Prigozhin’s first name and patronymic.

According to CNN, the video was unedited, and metadata on the file suggests that it was created on Wednesday at dawn.

But the outlet could not conclusively claim that the man was Prigozhin as the video appeared to be grainy and filmed in low light.

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'Wagner won’t participate in the Russia-Ukraine war'

While criticising the Russian Ministry of Defence, Prigozhin in the video said that his group would no longer participate in the Ukraine war and would instead “set off on a new journey to Africa.”

He further said that the group could return to Ukraine “when we will be confident that we will not be asked to make an embarrassment of ourselves and our experience.”

“What is happening now at the front is a disgrace in which we do not need to participate. We need to wait for the moment when we can prove ourselves fully,” Prigozhin said.

“Therefore, a decision was taken for us to station here in Belarus for some time. I am sure that during this time we will make the Belarusian army second greatest in the world. And if needed, we will defend them if it comes to it.”

“I want to ask everyone to really pay attention to the fact that Belarusians welcomed us not only as heroes, but also as brothers,” he added.

The failed coup attempt

On June 24, Prigozhin announced a coup against the Kremlin after growing discontent with the top Russian defence officials.

The mercenary groups took control of Rostov-on-Don—one of Russia’s largest cities—but did not proceed further saying that they want to avoid “shedding Russian blood” and agreed to live in exile in Belarus.

Initially, Putin accused the group of treason and sought to eliminate Prigozhin, once Putin’s ally, but Lukashenko claimed to have intervened in the matter, and negotiated a peace deal between the two.

(With inputs from agencies)

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