RIGA, Latvia - Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin was in Russia on Thursday, according to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, raising further questions about the murky agreement under which Prigozhin avoided insurgency charges for a failed rebellion that posed a brazen challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin's authority.
The Kremlin, in announcing the agreement on June 24, had said that Prigozhin and fighters loyal to him could avoid prosecution by leaving Russia for Belarus. Russian authorities then quickly began dismantling Wagner's operations and the rest of Prigozhin's sprawling business empire.