Ukraine says situation unchanged in north after Prigozhin flight to Belarus

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday the security situation in northern Ukraine was unchanged and under control after Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin flew into exile in Belarus.

Prigozhin flew from Russia to exile in Ukraine's northern neighbour on Tuesday following an aborted mutiny, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said fighters in Prigozhin's Wagner mercenary group would be offered the choice of relocating there. "Wagnerites are in occupied territory in Ukraine - they were and are in the (eastern) Luhansk region," Zelenskiy told a press conference, confirming that some of the group's fighters remained on Ukrainian soil after fighting in the east.

Asked about the presence of Wagner mercenaries in Belarus, he said: "I don't think this contingent will be very big." "Our army believes that the situation in the north of our country is unchanged and is under our control," he said.