Wagner boss 'missing and out of contact' after Putin exiles him to Belarus

25 June 2023 , 20:17

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Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group, was last seen in Rostov-on-Don, Russia yesterday (Image: AP)

Wagner chef Yevgeny Prigozhin is "out of contact" as mystery shrouds his whereabouts ahead of his exile to Belarus.

The mercenary chief's own press team has described the 62-year-old man as "missing and out of contact" tonight, despite being ordered to Belarus.

The oligarch was last seen getting into a car in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, as he took selfies with fans and got a hero's welcome after his botched rebellion.

However, there is no indication as of yet he has arrived at Aleksandr Lukashenko's landlocked country, which borders Russia.

Prigozhin poses for a selfie photo with a local civilian in Rostov-on-Don (AP)

Prigozhin's representatives said in a statement that the father of three cannot be reached at the moment.

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"He says 'hi' to everyone and will answer questions when he will get in touch normally," the representatives added.

His whereabouts are currently "unknown", according to Russian media.

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Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone did, though, post an eerie photo of Prigozhin shushing the camera, captioned: "Plans love silence."

And the usually social media-savvy warlord hasn't posted on social media for nearly 24 hours. He normally posts around a dozen times a day - but so far its been radio silence.

Prigozhin's final message was his instruction to his men to stand down to avoid bloodshed and end his fleeting rebellion.

The phrase was coined to encourage silence about Ukraine's counteroffensive, but the Wagner-affiliated account posted it only 24 hours after the failed coup.

A Ukrainian soldier looks at the sky searching for a drone on the frontline in Ukraine (AP)

And indeed, Prigozhin earlier looked unfazed at the failure of his armed march on Moscow yesterday as he returned to the Wagner base of operations at Rostov-on-Don.

As Wagner mercenaries left Rostov on Sunday, crowds chanted “Wagner! Wagner!” as the motley assortment of war criminals moved out of the town they had captured on their way to Moscow.

Meanwhile Prigozhin left Rostov-on-Don headed in a different direction, to seemingly begin his Kremlin-ordered exile in the neighbouring country of Belarus.

The warlord was ferried through the streets in a black 4x4 stopping to take pics with smiling locals.

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Bradley Jolly