Ukraine war: Wagner boss 'not' in Belarus, more convicts sent to battle, anti-Wagner campaign

The Wagner boss arrived in Belarus just over a week ago upon Lukashenko's invitation, brokering a deal to end the Wagner group's mutiny. 

"He's in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus," Lukashenko told reporters on Thursday. 

The deal also dropped criminal charges against Prigozhin allowing him to move to Belarus. 

Lukashenko added that Wagner militants were still in their respective bases to the best of his knowledge, adding the relocation issue had not been resolved. 

The offer to accommodate some of Wagner's mercenaries still stands as they are not a risk for Belarus, Lukashenko said. 

None of Mr Lukashenko’s claims have been verified, and Mr Prigozhin has not been seen in public since the rebellion nearly two weeks ago.

Multiple people were killed and wounded on Thursday in the largest attack on Lviv’s civilian infrastructure since Russia invaded Ukraine last year.

At least five were killed and 36 others injured, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said, as emergency service workers searched for more people trapped under the rubble. 

“Unfortunately, there are wounded and dead. My condolences to the relatives. There will definitely be a response to the enemy. A tangible one,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a reaction video posted on Telegram.

Zelenskyy also posted drone footage that shows wrecked buildings from above.

The missile destroyed entire floors of a residential building that was struck, leaving the streets below covered in rubble.

Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted seven of the 10 Kalibr cruise missiles that Russia fired from the Black Sea toward the western Ukrainian region of Lviv and the wider region early on Thursday.

Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said around 60 apartments and 50 cars in the