A months-long feud between Prigozhin and Putin’s military leaders had erupted in an open confrontation between the two parties on June 23. Lukashenko mediated between the Kremlin and Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the magnate behind the Wagner group. Several media clarified that Putin endorsed his intervention, the Belarussian leader managed to get Prigozhin to agree to stop his operation. In exchange, Russian authorities dropped all charges against the mercenaries. After the deal, Prigozhin announced that his forces had stopped advancing towards Moscow, where they planned to confront Putin’s Defense Minister. was this a plan by Putin to deceive Ukraine and the west ?