Is the exile of Wagner’s mercenary leader already over? After his abortive rebellion on June 24, Yevgueni Prigojine had left Russia to take refuge in Belarus, where President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Vladimir Putin, had offered to welcome him with his men. But already, since the beginning of July, rumors evoked the possible return of Prigojine to his country. Now, it’s a photo taken during the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg, and spotted by BFMTV, which seems to indicate his return.
It was Dmitri Sytyi, Yevgueni Prigojine’s right arm in the Central African Republic, who posted a photo on Facebook supposedly dated Thursday, July 27. It shows Evgueni Prigojine in civilian clothes, smiling, shaking hands with a man whom the Financial Times identifies as Freddy Mapouka, chief of protocol for the President of the Central African Republic (CAR).
According to Dmitri Sytyi’s comment, the photo was taken on the sidelines of the meeting organized in Saint Petersburg, Russia’s second city, with several African heads of state and officials: “Mr. shared with me the first photos of the Russia-Africa summit. We see familiar faces, ”writes the relative of Yevgueni Prigojine.
Dmitri Sytyi appears to have subsequently deleted his post. But the Russian media Fontanka, based in Saint Petersburg, confirms that the photo was indeed taken on Thursday July 27 on the sidelines of the summit, in a hotel “which belongs to the Prigojine family”. Wagner’s chef would therefore be back on Russian soil.
Information that goes in the direction of the declarations of the Belarusian president at the beginning of July: Alexander Lukashenko had created the surprise by assuring that Prigojine had already left Belarus, where he had been a refugee since his abortive rebellion of June 24, to return to his country. However, a video released on July 20 appeared to show the Wagner leader with his mercenaries, still on Belarusian soil.
