Lukashenko Says Putin Wanted to ‘Wipe Out’ Prigozhin During Mutiny Attempt

Lukashenko Says Putin Wanted to ‘Wipe Out’ Prigozhin During Mutiny Attempt
Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves the headquarters of the Southern Military District amid the group's pullout from the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

MOSCOW—Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he persuaded Russian President Vladimir Putin not to “wipe out” mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, in response to what the Kremlin cast as a mutiny.

Putin initially vowed to crush the mutiny, comparing it to the wartime turmoil that ushered in the revolution of 1917 and then a civil war, but hours later a deal was clinched to allow Prigozhin and some of his fighters to go to Belarus.