Prigozhin: Video seems to show Wagner boss in Belarus

Prigozhin: Video seems to show Wagner boss in Belarus

A video on telegram channels connected to the Wagner group, its boss Jewgeni Prigoschin in Belarus.

He welcomes fighter and describes the latest developments on the front in Ukraine as "shame".

He also indicates that Wagner could come back to war at a later date.

The video also seems to confirm a statement of Belarium that Wagner fighter now acted as a military instructor for the country's army.

This would be the first film material from Prigozhin, which was seen since Wagner triggered an armed mutiny in Russia at the end of June.

It was absorbed in weak light and shows Prigozhin how it stands on one asphalt path in one field, surrounded by trees and something that looks like warehouses and tents.

BBC Verify is confident that the arrangement of the tents, trees and buildings of a location on the western edge of the warehouse corresponds.

In the background, numerous camouflaged people can be seen and you can hear them.

Despite the bad light, Prigozhin can just be recognized by his silhouette, and Russian speakers, who are familiar with his previous statements, say that the voice and the way of speaking are unmistakable of him.

In the video, Prigoschin says that the fighters in Ukraine "have a worthy struggle" and "did a lot for Russia", and has sharp criticism of the current warfare.

"What is currently happening at the front is a shame in which we do not want a share, and we have to wait until we can prove our full skills," you hear him.

He continues that "the decision was made to stay here in Belarus for a while" and Wagner would use the time to make the Belarusian army the "Second Army of the World".

The Wagner boss also indicates that its fighters "prepare further" and possibly return to the front in Ukraine, "if we are sure that we are not forced to shake ourselves and our experience".

Prigoschin still seems to be negotiated with the Kremlin

Prigozhin has reappeared-well, somehow. It certainly sounds like the Wagner boss, who (supposedly) turns to Wagner fighter in Belarus. And the silhouette in the blurred twilight video is similar.

and-like Jewgeni Prigoschin, whom we remember a few weeks ago-he expresses his opinion about the situation on the front line in Ukraine and describes them as "shame" (which implies criticism of the Russian military leadership). But in contrast to Jewgeni Prigoschin, whom we remember so well, he does not become personally - no direct criticism of Minister of Defense Schoigu or chief of general staff. And no more "justice marches" or mutinies.

No, this video shows that he adheres to the agreement he has made with the Kremlin (i.e. immunity before prosecution in return for the departure to Belarus). In fact, both sides stick to the agreement.

OK. So Prigozhin and Wagner are in Belarus.

What will you do next? The voice indicates that some of the fighters will leave for Africa; Some will train the Belarusian army and turn it into the "second best army in the world". He said they would remain "for some time" in Belarus. And he left the opportunity to return to the "special military operation" in Ukraine.

The last comment seems to refer to earlier claims from Prigozhin that the Russian Ministry of Defense had restricted the ammunition deliveries to Wagner during the long and bloody struggle for the Eastern Ukrainian city of Bachmuth, in order to restrict or diversify its success in the fighting.

At some point Prigozhin hands over the matter to a man whom he introduces as "the commander and the person who gave us the name Wagner".

Although his name is not mentioned, it is with a very certainty that it is a rare public appearance of Dmitri Utkin, the former Russian army officer, who is considered Wagner's military chief. It is his call sign - "Wagner" - after which the group is named.

Earlier analyzes from BBC Verify show that dozens of vehicles in the new Wagner camp in TSEL, a disused military base in the south of Weißrussland-about 64 miles (103 km) removed from the capital.

As part of the agreement that ended the short-lived uprising, the mercenaries were told that they could join the regular Russian army or move to Belarus, a close allied Russia.

In an interview with the business newspaper Kommersant last week, Russia's President Vladimir Putin said that "Wagner does not exist".

"There is no law about private military organizations. They simply do not exist," said the Russian president when asked whether the group would be preserved as a combat unit.

Image: Telegram