- Russia’s Wagner trains near Poland
- Poland has strengthened the border
- Prigozhin welcomes mercenaries in Belarus
- Up to 10,000 Wagner fighters are said to be in Belarus – commander
MOSCOW, July 20 (Portal) – Mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group have started training Belarusian special forces at a military compound a few miles from the border with NATO member Poland, Belarus’ defense ministry said on Thursday.
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters in Belarus and telling them that for the time being they would no longer take part in the Ukraine war, but ordered them to rally their forces for Africa while they trained the Belarusian army.
“The Armed Forces of Belarus continue their joint training with fighters from the Wagner PMC (Private Military Company),” the Belarusian Ministry of Defense announced.
“During the week, special forces units will work out combat training tasks together with company representatives at the Brest military training area.”
The distribution area is only 5 km east of the Polish border.
Minsk released images of masked Wagner instructors, with their faces covered per mercenary group rules, training Belarusian soldiers using armored vehicles and what appear to be drone controls.
Poland, a former member of the Warsaw Pact that has been a full member of the US-led military alliance since 1999, began moving over 1,000 troops to the east of the country earlier this month amid growing concerns that Wagner fighters in Belarus were growing increased stresses could result at its border.
Poland’s Defense Ministry said Thursday the country’s borders are secure and it is prepared for “different scenarios as the situation evolves.”
Asked about Poland’s move, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “Of course there is cause for concern. Poland’s aggressiveness is a reality.”
“Such a hostile attitude towards Belarus and the Russian Federation requires increased attention (from our side).”
A fighter of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group conducts training for Belarusian soldiers at a firing range near the town of Osipovichi, Belarus, July 14, 2023. This still image is from a handout video. Voen Tv/Belarusian Defense Ministry/Handout via Portal
Wagner’s failed mutiny of June 23-24 was interpreted by the West as a challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s rule, highlighting the weakness of the 70-year-old Kremlin chief and the burden of the Ukraine war on the Russian state.
Russia rejects this interpretation, saying the Russian people rallied around Putin and the military.
mercenary plans
On June 24, an agreement was reached that the mercenaries would move to Belarus if the charges against them were dropped. Putin said the fighters could either leave for Belarus, submit to Defense Ministry command, or return to their families.
According to a post by a commander-in-chief, republished by Wagner’s Telegram channel, Wagner lost 22,000 of his men in the Ukraine war, 40,000 were wounded and up to 10,000 fighters will end up in Belarus.
Portal has been unable to confirm what appears to be the most detailed breakdown of the Wagner numbers in several months. But if they’re accurate, they give a glimpse of the scale of casualties suffered by both sides in the Ukraine war – and the enduring strength of one of the world’s most battle-hardened mercenary forces.
The commander-in-chief, Wagner’s chief of staff, known by his nickname “Marx,” said in the post that a total of 78,000 Wagner men took part in what he called the “Ukrainian business trip,” including 49,000 prisoners.
Wagner helped Russia annex Crimea in 2014, fought Islamic State militants in Syria, operated in the Central African Republic and Mali, and earlier this year captured the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut for Russia, with significant casualties on both sides.
“Up to 10,000 fighters have gone or will go to Belarus,” he said. “About 15,000 went on vacation.”
The post contradicted remarks by a Russian lawmaker who said as many as 33,000 Wagner fighters had signed contracts with the defense ministry.
“If all the dead and those who went on vacation signed up, then I think it’s possible,” Marx said.
Reporting by Felix Light in Tbilisi and Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow. Edited by Andrew Osborn, Angus MacSwan, William Maclean
Our standards: The Thomson Portal Trust Principles.