Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko revealed today, Friday, that he warned the leaders of the Russian private military group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, about potential threats to their lives. Lukashenko, who helped mediate the deal shortly after the Wagner mutiny, stated that he convinced Putin not to "eliminate" Prigozhin, who was among the passengers of a private plane that crashed north of Moscow on Wednesday.
Lukashenko noted that Prigozhin dismissed twice the concerns raised by the Belarusian President regarding potential threats to his life. He added that he warned Prigozhin during the mutiny that he would "die" if he continued his advance toward Moscow, to which Prigozhin responded, "I don't care. I will die."
Lukashenko went on to say that he warned Prigozhin and Utkin a second time when he met with them. Utkin, who co-founded Wagner with Prigozhin, was also on the list of passengers of the crashed plane.
Lukashenko, an old acquaintance of Prigozhin and a close ally of Russia, claimed that Putin had nothing to do with the plane crash. He added, "I know Putin; it is not in his nature to betray and he is very calm, even meticulous. I cannot imagine that Putin did that, and that Putin is responsible. It is an excessively cruel and unprofessional mission."
