Wagner chief in Belarus; NATO vows to protect allies

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed on Tuesday that Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner private military group, had arrived in Minsk, as NATO warned it was ready to defend against "Moscow or Minsk".

A satellite image from imaging company BlackSky showed two planes linked to Prigozhin at an air base outside the Belarusian capital in the morning.

"I see that Prigozhin is already flying on a plane. Yes, indeed, he is in Belarus today," Lukashenko told state media, adding that Prigozhin and some of his troops were welcome to stay "for some time" at their own expense.