Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video Wednesday (July 19) welcoming his fighters to Belarus after the failed rebellion against Russia's Vladimir Putin last month.
In a video shot at dusk and shared by two Telegram channels affiliated with Wagner, a man resembling and sounding like Prigozhin was seen addressing his fighters.
"Welcome, lads... Welcome to Belarusian soil," he told the mercenaries. "We fought honorably. You have done a great deal for Russia. What is going on at the front is a disgrace that we do not need to get involved in."
Since Prigozhin's failed coup and exile to Belarus at the behest of Alexander Lukashenko, there have been many speculations about his fate and whereabouts, one of them even saying he was either imprisoned or killed by the Kremlin.
However, the head of the British MI6 said Wednesday that Prigozhin was alive, well, and at liberty. He additionally claimed Putin had no choice but to reach an agreement with Wagner in order to end the rebellion, saying Putin had "cut a deal to save his skin."
Prigozhin to Wagner: Respect the Belarusians, Prepare for Africa
With the mercenary group's failed decapitation strike to Moscow, Prigozhin has advised his troops to prepare themselves for a reassignment to Africa, possibly to Mali after the country voted to end the presence of UN peacekeeping forces there.
The Central African Republic and Libya could also be possible deployments for Wagner troops since their initial presence there in 2018.
The warlord added the objectives of their stay in Belarus were not only to "set off on a new journey to Africa" but also to help the Belarusian army and "defend them" if necessary, as well as harden their resolve to fight the war in Ukraine when they come back.
"I want to ask everyone to really pay attention to the fact that Belarusians welcomed us not only as heroes but also as brothers," Prigozhin added. "We should prepare, get better, and set off on a new journey to Africa."
Utkin: 'Welcome to Hell'
At the end of the video, Prigozhin handed the floor over to Wagner co-founder and former Russian military intelligence officer Dmitry Utkin to address the troops.
"This is not the end. This is just the beginning of the biggest work in the world that will be carried out very soon," he said in Russian.
He then said the next sentence in English: "Welcome to hell!"
