Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, of mercenaries fighting in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, may have arrived in Belarus this Tuesday, June 27.
The suspicion falls on a flight carried out by an Embraer Legacy 600 jet that would be owned by him and that arrived in capital Minsk after leaving Rostov, Russia.
See also: Embraer Legacy crashes in Russia with Wagner Group leader on board
The Brazilian aircraft would belong to Prigozhin since 2020 after being used by several companies since 2007, when it was delivered by Embraer.
FlightRadar24 records the flight, but without revealing details about takeoff and landing times or even its origin, possibly Rostov, the city where the Wagner Group had taken over a military base during the riot promoted by Prigozhin on Friday, June 23rd.
The executive jet made a flight around Ukraine, an air zone blocked due to the conflict. The arrival in Belarus is part of the agreement sealed with the country’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, who offered refuge to the Russian billionaire.
Russian aircraft shot down
Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was considered a great ally of Putin, and responsible for the few successful actions in the Russian invasion, has always been critical of the country’s military command, whom he accused of harming the battlefronts in Ukraine.
On Friday, the Wagner Group moved into the city of Rostov, on the border with Ukraine, and took over military installations without resistance.
Prigozhin was demanding that Putin sack Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, who command Russia’s armed forces and whom he blamed for an alleged attack on his group that killed hundreds of soldiers.
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After sending a convoy towards Moscow, Prigozhin backed down and accepted exile in Belarus while his fighters were pardoned and urged to join the Russian Army.
Before that, the Wagner Group would have shot down a Kamov Ka-52 helicopter, four Mil Mi-8 helicopters and an Ilyushin Il-22 turboprop – the information could not be confirmed.
