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Lithuanian president concerned about arrival of Wagner PMC forces in Belarus

On the evening of June 23, several audio recordings were posted on the Telegram channel of Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) founder Yevgeny Prigozhin

BRUSSELS, June 29. /TASS/. Lithuanian authorities are extremely concerned about the imminent arrival of troops of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) in Belarus, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Thursday.

"We are neighbors of Belarus and we are extremely concerned about the developments in this country," Nauseda said, commenting on the deployment of troops of the Wagner PMC troops on the territory of Belarus.

On the evening of June 23, several audio recordings were posted on the Telegram channel of Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) founder Yevgeny Prigozhin. In particular, he claimed that his units had come under attack, blaming the Russian military. The Federal Security Service (FSB) launched a criminal probe into calls for armed mutiny. In turn, the Russian Defense Ministry slammed the Wagner boss’ allegations of a strike on the PMC’s "rear camps" as fake news. The PMC units that supported Prigozhin headed to Rostov-on-Don and then turned toward Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address to the nation on June 24, described the Wagner group’s actions as armed mutiny and a betrayal, vowing to take tough measures against the mutineers.

Later on that day, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in coordination with Putin, held talks with Prigozhin, resulting in the PMC standing down, turning its units around, and retreating to their base camps. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a criminal case against the Wagner chief would be dropped, while Prigozhin himself would go to Belarus. In addition, the Russian authorities pledged not to prosecute those Wagner PMC fighters who took part in the mutiny in light of their "frontline achievements." On June 27, the FSB press office reported that the criminal case had been dropped. Later, Lukashenko said that he had offered Prigozhin one of the abandoned units in Belarus to host the Wagner camp. He also promised him full security and the withdrawal of PMC forces to Belarus.

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