Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, has stated that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of Wagner, the Russian private military firm, is not present in the country despite reports of his possible presence. This comes as Belarus is facing mass protests starting in August 2020 in the aftermath of the presidential election, where Lukashenko was declared winner. Prigozhin is accused of orchestrating military interference in several countries and was placed under US and EU sanctions for this reason.