'Wagner is alive and will live in Belarus', says Lukashenko

Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday the Russian mercenary group Wagner will remain in Belarus, without specifying their purpose or how long they would stay. 

"Wagner is alive and Wagner will live in Belarus", claimed the Belarusian President, saying the force's "hardcore" would remain under a scheme he "built" with its leader. 

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is believed to have died in a plane crash on Wednesday, amid speculation the Kremlin was behind the incident. 

All 10 people on board, including several other senior Wagner figures, apparently died after the private jet crashed north of Moscow. 

Lukashenko said he did not believe his Russian counterpart gave the order to kill Prigozhin, though was "not to be able to say" who was responsible.

"I know [Vladimir] Putin," said Lukashenko, quoted by the state news agency Belta. "He's a thoughtful man, very calm... I can't imagine that it was he who did that."

The crash was "too brutal and amateur", continued the Belarusian president, revealing his plans to keep 10,000 mercenaries in Belarus.

Moscow has hit back against claims it ordered the assassination of Prigozhin, who launched a mutiny to bring down a military establishment he saw as incompetent.

"It's an absolute lie," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday, denying allegations from Western officials that Putin orchestrated the incident.

"We must approach this problem based on facts," he added.

Russian authorities have said the cause of the crash is under investigation.

Meanwhile, Putin on Friday signed a decree requiring his troops to take an oath to Russia, as regular army soldiers do.

Under this decree detailed on the government's website, they must swear "fidelity" and "loyalty" to the state and "strictly follow the