Wagner Mercenaries Getting into Belarus as Minsk Pronounces ‘Highway Map’ for Joint Army Drills

A big convoy carrying fighters from the Wagner private army was noticed coming into Belarus from Russia early Saturday, a monitoring group reported after the nation’s Protection Ministry stated it deliberate for the mercenaries and Minsk’s personal armed forces to conduct joint navy drills.

The impartial monitoring group Belaruski Hajun, which tracks the actions of armed forces in Belarus, stated at the very least 60 vans, buses and different massive automobiles crossed into the japanese European nation accompanied by Belarusian police.

The group didn’t instantly present images or movies of the automobiles however stated that they had license plates from Russian-occupied areas of japanese Ukraine, the place Wagner mercenaries fought alongside Russian troops till a short-lived mutiny final month.

The convoy headed towards a navy base exterior Osipovichi, a city 230 kilometers (142 miles) north of the Ukrainian border. Satellite tv for pc photos analyzed by The Related Press this month confirmed rows of tent-like constructions that appeared to have been constructed on the base between June 15 and June 30.

The authoritarian president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, stated on the time that Minsk may use Wagner’s expertise and experience, and that he had provided the fighters an “deserted navy unit” to arrange camp. That very same week, a pacesetter of an anti-Lukashenko guerrilla group instructed the AP that development of a web site for the mercenaries was underway close to Osipovichi.

Whereas Belaruski Hajun’s declare concerning the convoy heading into Belarus couldn’t instantly be verified, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service stated Saturday that the pressure additionally had noticed “some teams” of Wagner fighters crossing from Russia into Belarus. The spokesperson, Andriy Demchenko, made the remarks in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper.

The Belarusian Protection Ministry stated in a web-based assertion late Friday that it had developed a “street map” with Wagner’s administration for joint coaching workouts drills by the nation’s navy personnel and the non-public mercenaries.

Earlier Friday, the Protection Ministry stated that Wagner fighters had begun coaching Belarusian troopers. A TV channel affiliated with the ministry confirmed footage of fighters in black masks instructing troopers on learn how to shoot and supply first assist.

On June 23, the Wagner group’s founder and chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, ordered his fighters to depart their camps in Ukraine and head towards Moscow to demand the elimination of Russia’s protection minister and Common Workers chief. The mutiny rattled Russia and posed the largest problem to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin’s one-time benefactor, throughout his many years in energy.

Within the revolt that lasted less than 24 hours, Wagner fighters swept by way of the southern Russian metropolis of Rostov-on-Don and captured the navy headquarters there, earlier than driving to inside about 200 kilometers (125 miles) of the Russian capital. Prigozhin had accused the senior Russian navy management for months of bungling the conflict in Ukraine and ravenous his troops of ammunition.

Lukashenko then brokered a deal between Prigozhin and the Kremlin that shielded the Wagner chief and his males from prosecution, permitting Prigozhin to maneuver to Belarus in trade for ordering his mercenaries again to the camps.

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