MOSCOW: Belarusian strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko announced Tuesday that he had ordered his army to be “combat ready” during an uprising in neighbouring Russia led by Wagner mercenary head Yevgeny Prigozhin.

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“I gave all the orders to bring the army to full combat readiness,” Lukashenko said in comments distributed by state media, after the long-serving authoritarian was credited with negotiating an end to Wagner’s short-lived uprising.