Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin flew to Belarus from Russia on Tuesday (Jun 27) after a mutiny that has dealt the biggest blow to President Vladimir Putin’s authority since he came to power more than 23 years ago.

Flightradar24 showed an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet appeared in Rostov region at 0232 GMT and began a descent at 0420 GMT near Minsk.

The identification codes of the aircraft matched those of a jet linked by the United States to Autolex Transport, which is linked to Prigozhin by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control that enforces sanctions.

“I see Prigozhin is already flying in on this plane,” President Alexander Lukashenko was quoted as saying by state news agency Belta. “Yes, indeed, he is in Belarus today.”

Under a deal mediated by Lukashenko on Saturday to halt a mutiny by Prigozhin’s mercenary fighters, Prigozhin was meant to move to Belarus.

Prigozhin’s “march for justice”, which he said was aimed at settling scores with Putin’s military top brass whom he cast as treasonous and corrupt, has raised the prospect of turmoil in Russia while undermining Putin’s reputation as unchallenged leader.

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Just hours after casting the mutineers as traitors on Saturday, Putin agreed to a deal to drop criminal charges against them in exchange for their return to camps, with Prigozhin and some of his fighters to move to Belarus.

It is not yet clear whether Wagner – created to fight proxy wars for the Kremlin in a deniable form – will survive the mutiny, and if it does, what it might do next.

With strong ties to Russian military intelligence (GRU), Wagner has been able to recruit some of Russia’s best special forces soldiers with significant cash salaries and generous payouts for families of fallen soldiers.

One option, if Wagner survives, would be for it to return to Africa – where it has gained a fearsome reputation, especially in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali – or to attack Ukraine from the north, opening up a new Russian front.

Speaking from the Kremlin on Monday, Putin vowed to stand by his promise to allow Wagner fighters to leave for Belarus, though he did not mention Prigozhin by name.

“You have the opportunity to continue serving Russia by signing a contract with the ministry of defence or other law enforcement agencies, or to return to your family and friends,” Putin said. REUTERS