By Athena Papakosta

In Belarus is the head of the mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhinas the country’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, confirmed yesterday, Tuesday, as Moscow reported that the mercenary group had agreed to hand over its heavy military equipment after its failed armed rebellion last Saturday.

THE head of Wagner the last time he was seen in public was when he left Rostov, the southern Russian city which their forces took control of for several hours, amid popular cheers.

Russia’s FSB, Russia’s Federal Security Service, dropped its prosecution of the mercenary group for a standoff as part of the deal, which was struck with the intervention of Lukashenko – an old friend of Wagner’s chief – and Vladimir Putin’s acquiescence while his fighters Prigozhin was 200 kilometers away from the Russian capital, Moscow.

The Belarusian president, speaking to Belarusian officers and officials, said he had offered the commanders and fighters of the mercenary group an abandoned base, stressing that Minsk need not feel threatened by what he described as “the most prepared unit of the Russian army”.

He also revealed that he had a phone conversation with Russian president and claims she convinced him not to kill him. In particular, he pointed out: “I told Putin: we can kill him, that’s not a problem. Either with the first attempt or with the second. But I told him: don’t do it. These guys know how to be there for each other… they’ve fought in Asia, Africa, Latin America. They will make it to the end.” At the same time, he describes how he managed to convince Prigozhin to back down.

On Monday afternoon, the Russian president emphasized that Wagner’s mercenaries can join the Russian army or go to Belarus. Prigozhin, for his part, has yet to comment on Lukashenko himself saying that many are still in Lugansk in eastern Ukraine.

Prigozhin’s short-lived rebellion poses the biggest challenge to Vladimir Putin in his 23 years in power as he in a new message to the Russian people tries to show stability and strength. “The armed rebellion would have been suppressed anyway. Those who organized this rebellion, despite the inadequacy, could not fail to understand this (…) Those who participated in the rebellion saw that the army and the people were not on their side.”

For analysts, Prigozhin will disappear in the future. “Remember how others, like Navalny, ended up in the past… Dead, murdered, poisoned, or in prison,” emphasized Professor Robert English speaking to CNN.