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Prigozhin’s short-lived insurrection over the weekend — the biggest challenge to Putin’s rule in more than two decades in power — has rattled Russia’s leadership. Image Credit: AP

MOSCOW: A Russian-registered Embraer Legacy 600 jet, which is linked to Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in US sanctions documents, flew to Belarus from Russia on Tuesday.

Flightradar24 showed the business jet flew to Belarus early on Tuesday.

The idenfication codes of the aircraft match 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.

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

Prigozhin’s short-lived insurrection over the weekend — the biggest challenge to Putin’s rule in more than two decades in power — has rattled Russia’s leadership.

Putin praises unity

Putin on Monday night sought to project stability and control in a short, nationally televised address, in which he criticised the uprising’s “organisers,” without naming Prigozhin.

He also praised Russian unity in the face of the crisis, as well as rank-and-file Wagner fighters for not letting the situation descend into “major bloodshed.”

Earlier in the day, Prigozhin defended his actions in a defiant audio statement. He again taunted the Russian military but said he hadn’t been seeking to stage a coup against Putin.

In another show of stability and control, the Kremlin on Monday night showed Putin meeting with top security, law enforcement and military officials, including Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, whom Prigozhin had sought to remove.

Putin thanked his team for their work over the weekend, implying support for the embattled Shoigu. Earlier, the authorities released a video of Shoigu reviewing troops in Ukraine.

Prigozhin’s fate is uncertain. The Kremlin has promised to drop a criminal probe against him on the charges of mounting a rebellion, but Russian media reports Monday said the case hasn’t been closed.

It also wasn’t clear whether he would be able to keep his mercenary force. In his speech, Putin offered Prigozhin’s fighters to either come under Russia’s Defence Ministry’s command, leave service or go to Belarus.

Prigozhin said Monday, without elaborating, that the Belarusian leadership proposed solutions that would allow Wagner to operate “in a legal jurisdiction,” but it was unclear what that meant.