BELARUSIAN President Alexander Lukashenko said that Russian President Vladimir Putin could not be the one behind the crash that killed Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin along with his top commanders.
In a news conference in Minsk on Friday, Lukashenko referred to Putin as his older brother, who makes sharp decisions, and this is why he cannot be behind the crash.
“I can’t say who did this. I won’t be a lawyer for my older brother [Putin]. But I know Putin.”
“This is a prudent, very calm, and even slow person when making decisions on other, less complex issues.”
“Therefore, I can’t imagine that Putin did this, that Putin is to blame.”
“The plane crash was] too rough, unprofessional work, for that matter,” according to Pres. Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus.
Lukashenko said he suggested to Prigozhin that he would talk to Putin to extract the Wagner boss to Belarus and guarantee his full security in his country.
“I suggested it. I said: ‘If you are afraid of something, I will talk to President Putin, and we will extract you to Belarus. We guarantee full security to you in Belarus,” Lukashenko said.
The Belarusian president further added that his talks with Prigozhin focused on the termination of all criminal cases against his paramilitary group Wagner and their move to Belarus.
And that he never had any conversation with Prigozhin about ensuring his security outside of the country.
“Prigozhin was flying from Africa. And then he landed in Moscow and left for St. Petersburg. How could I ensure his security? Moreover, we’ve never had this conversation about ensuring security in someone else’s territory,” Lukashenko added.
Despite the demise of Prigozhin and top elite Wagner commanders that were with him on the plane, Lukashenko said that Russia’s spy chief contacted them and said that everything that had been agreed upon with Prigozhin would be honored and that the Wagner Group was alive and would live in Belarus.
“Wagner lived, Wagner is alive, and Wagner will live in Belarus, no matter how much someone doesn’t want it,” Lukashenko said.
The Belarusian president also said he and Prigozhin had already built a system on how Wagner would stay in his country.
“As long as we need this unit, they will live and work with us,” he said.
The Wagner boss was confirmed to be onboard a private jet that crashed last week in Russia’s Northwestern Tver Region along with 9 other passengers, including Wagner co-founder Dmitry Utkin.
And on Sunday, Russia’s investigative committee confirmed that Prigozhin died along with all the passengers after carrying out genetic tests.
The announcement came after days of speculation over the fate of the Wagner boss, who was known to use body doubles, multiple passports, and disguises while traveling.
There had been reports of his death twice before the current plane crash in the Tver Region; one was a plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2019, and another was allegedly killed in August 2022 after the shelling in the headquarters from Hymers.
The Kremlin had already denied any involvement in the plane crash;
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also denied that his country was not involved.
Prigozhin was known as Putin’s chef, and in a video address last week, Putin offered his condolences to the family of the victims of the plane crash, describing him as a talented businessman who made mistakes but achieved the necessary results.
Putin also revealed that he had known Prigozhin since the 1990s.
Lukashenko, on the other hand, mentioned that he had been friends with the Wagner chief for more than 20 years.
The Wagner boss was thought to be a confidant of Putin.
He made global headlines after the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022, and together with his forces- or “musicians” as they called themselves,
Wagner has earned the support of the majority of Russians for taking an active role in the so-called special military operation, especially in the battle for the key Donbas stronghold of Bakhmut.
And in late June, after months of criticizing the Russian Defense Ministry and its top brass for not providing enough support and ammunition, he accused it of shelling a field camp belonging to his forces that led to the short-lived mutiny after a deal brokered by Lukashenko.
Prigozhin’s last video was believed to be filmed in Africa, and at that time, he had reopened recruitment of more Wagner fighters and vowed that the paramilitary would make Africa even more free while conducting reconnaissance and search activities against ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and other bandits.
Many people in Russia, especially the supporters of the Wagner Group, are mourning Prigozhin’s death since the news of the crash broke out.
Makeshift memorials were created for the Wagner boss in nearly two dozen Russian cities and occupied areas in Ukraine.
People were seen offering flowers, and some men in Wagner uniforms were spotted crying in front of makeshift memorials of their boss.
