Wagner boss roaming free in Russia
Yevgeny Prigozhin is still alive and roaming freely around Russia despite attempting an armed march on Moscow last month. He’s been reportedly sighted in Moscow and St Petersburg, where he reclaimed cash and weapons seized by security services. The Wagner leader has not relocated to Belarus with his fighters, according to Belarus’s leader Alexander Lukashenko, and has apparently ordered his mercenaries in Ukraine to “take leave” until early August. The Russian authorities seem unusually relaxed about detaining those who participated in the rebellion – and the Institute for the Study of War says Wagner forces are not being forced to join the Russian army or pushed into exile. It seems Vladimir Putin either still needs Prigozhin – or doesn’t have the ability to stop him.
Photograph Twitter