Russia's mutinous mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has been shown in a video telling his fighters that they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now, but ordering them to gather their strength for Africa.
The West has interpreted Wagner's failed June 23-24 mutiny as a challenge to President Vladimir Putin's rule that illustrates the weakness of the 70-year-old Kremlin chief and the strain of the Ukraine war on the Russian state.
The footage, reposted by his press service on Telegram on Wednesday, is the first video evidence of Prigozhin's whereabouts since the night of the mutiny.
In the video, the authenticity of which has not been verified, a man whose voice and Russian sounded like Prigozhin's, is heard . It was shot after night had fallen, though it was possible to discern what looked like Prigozhin's profile and a group of men.
'Journey to Africa'
The video posted on Wednesday showed Prigozhin receiving a Wagner black flag, decorated with the motto "Blood, honour, Motherland, Courage", from their camp in southern Russia.
Prigozhin says in the video that his men should behave well towards the locals and orders them to gather their strength for a "new journey to Africa."
"And perhaps we will return to the SMO [special military operation in Ukraine] at some point, when we are sure that we will not be forced to shame ourselves," Prigozhin said.
Wagner was founded by Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, a former special forces officer in Russia's GRU military intelligence, as a way for Russia to get involved in wars in countries including Syria, Libya and Mali with full deniability.
Wagner helped Russia annex Crimea in 2014, fought Daesh militants in Syria, operated in the Central African Republic and Mali and took the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut for Russia earlier this year with considerable losses on both sides.
