Putin breaks silence on deadly crash that killed Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin

Prigozhin’s death ‘doesn’t change much’ for region – Lithuania

The presumed death of Wagner’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, will have little impact on regional security, the Lithuanian president said on Thursday, stressing that its mercenaries were still present in neighbouring Belarus.

“We really shouldn’t think that Prigozhin’s death should make us any calmer or that it somehow improves the security situation,” said Gitanas Nauseda.

“[It] does not change much,” he added. 

Lithuania, a small Baltic country on NATO’s eastern flank, has warned of the risks posed by Wagner after its mercenaries reportedly relocated to Belarus in June.  

Fears of a Russian provocation on Lithuania and Poland’s borders have since grown, with the two NATO members beefing up security on the frontier with Belarus. 

Echoing the Lithuanian president, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Wagner was now “under the direct supervision of Putin and his people”, following Wednesday’s incident.  

“Even more than before, or at least like today, it will be used as a tool of provocation, of blackmail… to destabilise the countries bordering Russia and Belarus”, he added on Thursday.

(AFP)