MINSK, Belarus — The mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin is in Russia, the leader of Belarus said on Thursday, adding to the questions swirling around Mr. Prigozhin’s fate nearly two weeks after he called off his stunning armed rebellion against Moscow’s military leadership.
In a rare interview session with reporters at Independence Palace, President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus said that Mr. Prigozhin was in the Russian city of St. Petersburg as of Thursday morning, in contrast with statements he made days after the mutiny, when he said that the head of the Wagner paramilitary forces had arrived in Belarus. None of Mr. Lukashenko’s claims could be verified, and Mr. Prigozhin has not been seen in public since the rebellion nearly two weeks ago.
Mr. Prigozhin was “not on the territory of Belarus,” Mr. Lukashenko said, and nor were Wagner troops, who he said remained in their “permanent camps,” believed to be in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.
The Kremlin refused to comment on Mr. Lukashenko’s claims, telling reporters on Thursday that it was unaware of Mr. Prigozhin’s whereabouts. “We don’t follow his movements. We have neither the ability nor the desire to do so,” said Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman.
Mr. Lukashenko also signaled that at least some of Wagner’s fighting force — which was instrumental in Russia’s capture of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut this spring — could stay intact. He called the group Russia’s “most powerful unit,” although he said that “the main question of where Wagner will be deployed and what will it do — it doesn’t depend on me; it depends on the leadership of Russia.”
Mr. Lukashenko was speaking in the aftermath of some of Russia’s most dramatic political chaos since President Vladimir V. Putin came to power more than two decades ago. The Belarusian autocrat intervened in the armed mutiny led by Mr. Prigozhin, striking a deal with the Wagner leader that saw him stand down and withdraw his forces in exchange for amnesty for his fighters, and safe passage to Belarus for himself.
Mr. Lukashenko said that he had spoken to Mr. Prigozhin on Wednesday, and that Wagner would continue to “fulfill its duties to Russia for as long as it can.” He said Mr. Prigozhin was “a free man, but what will happen later, I don’t know.”
He said he did not expect that Mr. Putin would seek immediate vengeance for the failed mutiny. “If you think that Putin is so malicious and vindictive that he will ‘kill’ Prigozhin tomorrow — no, this will not happen,” he said.
Mr. Lukashenko previously said that he had offered Wagner fighters an “abandoned” military base, and satellite images verified by The New York Times last week showed new temporary structures being built at a deserted base about 80 miles from Minsk, the Belarusian capital. But on Thursday, Mr. Lukashenko appeared less definitive about the possible presence of Wagner troops in Belarus.
“Whether they will come here, and if so, how many of them will come, we will decide in the future,” he said.
Mr. Lukashenko said any Wagner units in Belarus could be called upon to defend the country, and that the group’s agreement to fight for Belarus in the event of a war was the main condition for granting it permission to relocate to the country.
“If we must activate this unit for the defense of the nation, then it will be immediately activated,” he said. “And their experience will be in high demand.”
After the rebellion in Russia late last month, Mr. Lukashenko positioned himself as a power broker who had helped avert a crisis, even as he has become increasingly isolated from the rest of the world. Viewed by the West as a subordinate under the Kremlin’s control, Mr. Lukashenko appears to be trying to burnish his image as a key player in resolving one of the biggest crises of Mr. Putin’s tenure as Russia’s leader.
By granting an interview session with a small group of reporters at his presidential palace on Thursday, Mr. Lukashenko may be hoping to establish a measure of independence from his benefactors in Moscow, while possibly getting a boost at home, with an electorate more interested in peace than joining Mr. Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Anatoly Kurmanaev and Ivan Nechepurenko contributed reporting.
