Lukashenko fully understands that Prigozhin’s military forces, publicly neutered of their heavy weaponry and supplies after Prigozhin’s rebellion - including T-90 tanks, artillery, surface-to-air missile systems, armored vehicles and ammunition - pose no real threat to Poland or to NATO as currently armed. As the Institute for War noted in its July 23 update, the bulk of Prigozhin’s Wagner Group forces in Belarus are now positioned far closer to Moscow (about 447 miles “along an excellent military highway”) than they were from their previous main base in Krasnodar Krai (851 miles) during their abortive mutiny against the Russian Defense Ministry. Yet the not so subtle below-the-surface hint to Putin, who likely did not fail to grasp it, was that a “stressed” Prigozhin could just as easily move east toward Moscow if he so chose - or was so directed. ‘Let’s go on a trip to Warsaw and Rzeszow.'” To that end, albeit jokingly, Lukashenko teased Putin, “The Wagner guys have started to stress us. Petersburg, Russia, appeared to be aiming Prigozhin as a dagger against Poland. On the surface, Lukashenko, during his meeting with Putin on Sunday in St. Even more deeply troubling to Putin is that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, himself under immense pressure, appears to be coyly trying to weaponize Prigozhin against the Russian president. The specter ( SPECTRE?) of Prigozhin rising once again is surely a discomfiting one for Putin, who has been left badly weakened in the aftermath of the Wagner Group’s short-lived uprising on June 24. He is as harsh as ever, characterizing the Kremlin’s war effort on the front lines as a “disgrace.” His silhouette and voice are unmistakable, as are his criticisms of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. Prigozhin has indeed returned, this time reappearing in a video filmed at dusk at one of the Wagner Group’s new military camps in Belarus.
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