Wagner group’s fighters have reached Belarus from Russia, confirmed Ukrainian and Polish officials on Saturday, one day after Minsk stated that the mercenaries were training the soldiers of the country in the southeast of the capital.
“Wagner is in Belarus,” said Andriy Demchenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian border agency, in a statement shared on the Telegram messaging app. He stated that the officials have observed in Belarus the movement of “separate groups” from Russia.
Since Tuesday, some Wagner fighters were already present in Belarus, two sources close to the fighters confirmed to news agency Reuters.
A video was released by the Belarusian defence ministry on Friday which showed what it stated were Wagner fighters providing training to Belarusian soldiers at a military range which was located close to the town of Osipovichi.
The move of Wagner to Belarus was part of the deal which was finalised to end the mutiny attempt of the group in June – when they had captured a Russian military headquarters, were marching towards Moscow and threatening to start a civil war in Russia, as stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was not seen in public since he departed from the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on June 24.
Poland’s Deputy Minister Co-ordinator of Special Services Stanislaw Zaryn stated that the presence of Wagner fighters in Belarus has also been confirmed by Wagner fighters.
“There may be several hundred of them at the moment,” stated Zaryn on Twitter. This month, Poland had stated that it was bolstering its border with Belarus to prevent any potential threats.
At least 60 vehicles enter in Belarus
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, while not proving his own troops to Kyiv, permitted Moscow to use its territory to launch its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Since this, Belarus has allowed its country to be used as a base for Russian nuclear weapons.
WATCH | Russia’s Wagner mercenary group trains soldiers in Belarus
The Belarusian Hajun project, which is responsible for monitoring military activity in the country and is seen as an extremist formation by Belarusian authorities, said that on Friday night a large column of at least 60 vehicles entered the country from Russia.
It stated that the vehicles, which included trucks, pickups, vans and buses, carried licence plates of the self-styled Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics, which is internationally recognised as eastern Ukraine.
(With inputs from agencies)
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