The alleged death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, hardly changes anything and does not improve the security situation in Lithuania, says President Gitanas Nausėda.
“Prigozhin’s death, if it is indeed confirmed, does not change much,” the Lithuanian president said in Kyiv on Thursday.
“It demonstrates that the [Russian] regime is entering another stage and that these people, whatever you may call them, are now killing each other, but we should certainly not think that this death of Prigozhin makes us feel calmer or that it somehow improves the security situation,” Nausėda added.
Further reading
Prigozhin, the founder of the mercenary Wagner Group, was on a business jet that crashed in Russia on Wednesday, Wagner-linked media said. Russian aviation authorities also said Prigozhin was on the flight.
All 10 people on board – including three crew members – were killed in the crash. Eight bodies were found at the crash site following the first investigations, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Wagner forces were involved in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but disputes between the mercenary group and the official Russian army built up until Prigozhin decided to pull his troops out of Ukraine and march on Moscow in late June.
The rebellion was brought to an end following negotiations mediated by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and the agreement that Prigozhin would go to Belarus with his forces. However, conflicting reports suggested that he left Belarus shortly afterward.
Lithuanian officials have raised alarm that the presence of Wagner troops in the neighbouring country posed security threat. This has led to proposals to put additional restrictions on migration from Belarus.
Nausėda insisted that one of the goals of Wagner’s mercenaries is to destabilise the situation in the region and try to stage provocations.
“Our task, our sacred duty, is to protect the security of our borders, because today it is the most important thing, and to be ready, without any doubt, to defend our security together with our loyal partners,” he said.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
