Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says he stopped President Vladimir Putin from assassinating the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, after staging an abortive mutiny in Russia. 

“We could waste (Mr Prigozhin), no problem. If not on the first try, then on the second. I told him: don’t do this,” Mr Lukashenko said he told Mr Putin during a meeting with security officials.

Last Saturday, Mr Lukashenko, the Russian president’s staunch ally, negotiated Mr Prigozhin’s departure for Belarus after the Wagner chief led thousands of his fighters toward Moscow.

The negotiation was made before calling off the advance well short of confronting Russian soldiers on the outskirts of Moscow. 

Mr Putin reportedly left Moscow as Wagner paramilitary fighters intensified their onslaught across Russia to seize control of the country. Mr Prigozhin said the Russian president made a mistake when he condemned the private military group and threatened to punish its members for armed rebellion. 

On Saturday, TASS, Russia’s main government-run outlet, reported that Putin fled to St Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city.

East European news outlet Nexta also reported that Putin’s plane took off from Moscow and disappeared from the radar. It was heading towards St Petersburg at about 2:16 p.m. local time. The flight suddenly disappeared from the radar, reports said.