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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed Tuesday, that a jet carrying PMC Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has landed in the east European country, following a deal with Kremlin after an hours-long mutiny over the weekend, against Russia's military establishment by the mercenary group.
The Belarusian leader also said that Wagner Group troops would be welcome to stay in the country "for some time" at their own expense. The latest developments, comes days after the Kremlin said it had made a deal for Prigozhin to move to Belarus and receive amnesty.
Russian authorities announced Tuesday, that a criminal investigation into PMC Wagner's purported mutiny has been closed, with no charges filed against anyone involved. The Federal Security Service said it found that participants in the armed rebellion had "ceased actions directly aimed at committing the crime."
Russian President Vladimir Putin had called the mutinous PMC Wagner troops and their chief, traitors, in a speech over the weekend. However the Kremlin stated that it would not prosecute Prigozhin and his fighters after he pulled his men back on Saturday to avoid bloodshed, less than 24 hours after the revolt began.
In a speech Monday, Putin again slammed the mutiny leaders but did not mention Prigozhin by name. He said Wagner fighters would be allowed to leave for Belarus, join the Russian military or go home. "The promise I gave will be fulfilled. I repeat, the choice is up to you," he said.
Putin said Russia's enemies wanted to see the country "choke in bloody civil strife," but Russia would not succumb to "any blackmail, any attempt to create internal turmoil."
Prigozhin, 62, was a long-time Putin ally whose Wagner fighters participated in the bloodiest battles of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The mercenary chief claimed he launched the rebellion to oust Russian military leaders who he had accused of corruption and incompetence in prosecuting the war.
Speaking in a recorded message hours before Putin's speech Monday, Prigozhin taunted Russia's military, calling his march a "master class" on how it should have carried out the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. He also mocked the military for failing to protect Russia, pointing out security breaches that allowed Wagner to march 500 miles toward Moscow without facing resistance.
"We went as a demonstration of protest, not to overthrow the government of the country," Prigozhin said in the audio message posted to social media.
However, Putin had confirmed that Russian pilots were killed fighting the mercenaries and thanked Russians for remaining united during the crisis.
"The people who were dragged into the rebellion saw that the army, the people were not with them," Putin said in an address Tuesday, to security officials including Russia’s intelligence agency the Federal Security Service.
WATCH remarks Monday, by Prigozhin and Putin