Prigozhin's jet flies from Belarus toward Russia
The business jet owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), has taken off from Belarus and is heading towards Russia.
Source: Belaruski Hajun, an independent Belarusian military monitoring media outlet, citing Flight Radar data
Quote: Prigozhin's business jet took off from Machulishchy. The Embraer Legacy 600 (reg. number RA-02795) took off from the Machulishchy military airbase at 22:39 and is heading towards the Russian Federation.
Details: Belaruski Hajun reported that, thus, Prigozhin's jet stayed in Machulishchy for exactly 14 hours and 59 minutes.
In addition, a second business jet (RA-02878) took off from Machulishchy immediately after the first one; this jet flew in Machulishchy this morning.
Previously: The Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claimed that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of Wagner PMC, is currently in Belarus.
Background:
- On the evening of 23 June, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that the regular Russian army had launched a missile strike on the Wagner mercenaries’ rear camps. He therefore deployed 25,000 of his mercenaries "to restore justice".
- On 24 June, the Wagnerites took control of military facilities in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and seized military facilities in the city of Voronezh. They were on their way to Moscow, and the Russian capital was preparing for defence.
- In an emergency address on 24 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was "fighting for survival" and that attempts were being made to "organise a rebellion" in the country. Ukrainian intelligence said he had urgently left Moscow for a bunker in Valdai.
- That evening, following a conversation with Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin said that his mercenaries were heading back to the field camps. He had been promised that the criminal charges against him in Russia were to be dropped, and he was supposed to "leave for Belarus".
- On 26 June, Prigozhin claimed that the purpose of his march on Moscow was to protect the Wagner Group from being wiped out, as the mercenaries had to sign a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence by 1 July, which they did not wish to do. He also claimed that he had stopped in order to "avoid shedding Russian blood" when Lukashenko suggested finding a way for the Wagner Group to continue operating in a "legitimate jurisdiction". Prigozhin is allegedly in Belarus now.
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