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Pence in Kyiv as Prigozhin reaches Belarus
Summary
A look back at 29 June 2023, when a former US vice-president arrived in the Ukrainian capital days after the Wagner mutiny ended.
What did Kyiv's visitors and Moscow's exiles have in common on 29 June 2023? Both were part of a news cycle shaped by the aftermath of the Wagner rebellion.
On 29 June 2023, former US Vice President Mike Pence made an unexpected visit to Kyiv.
Two days earlier, on 27 June 2023, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, had arrived in Belarus. Lukashenko said the arrival followed the agreement reached with the Russian government.
The rebellion behind the arrival
The Wagner rebellion was a short-lived internal conflict in Russia. It pitted the Ministry of Defence, including the regular army, against the Wagner private military company led by Prigozhin. Large-scale action began on the evening of 23 June 2023 and ended on the evening of 24 June, after talks between Lukashenko and Prigozhin.
The settlement provided for the criminal case against Prigozhin over an armed mutiny to be dropped. Wagner fighters were to move to field camps, and Prigozhin himself was to go to Belarus. His arrival, confirmed on 27 June 2023, was the visible fulfilment of that last term.
By 29 June 2023, then, the mutiny had been over for several days, and its main figure was in Belarus under the deal Lukashenko had brokered. In the same period, Pence's unannounced presence in the Ukrainian capital was reported.
