The Defense Ministry of Belarus announced on Thursday, July 20, 2023 that Wagner mercenaries have launched joint drills with the Belarusian military near the border with Poland.
This follows the mercenaries’ relocation to Belarus after their short-lived rebellion in Russia.
The drills will last for a week and they, according to the Belarusian Defense Ministry, will be conducted at a firing range near the border city of Brest and will involve Belarusian special forces.
The ministry added that Wagner’s combat experience will help modernize the Belarusian military.
A Belarusian special forces serviceman said that the Wagner troops “have extensive combat experience and the most up-to-date information. One can say this combat experience is invaluable for us.”
The ministry posted pictures of masked Wagner instructors, their faces covered in accordance with the mercenary group’s rules.
Belaruski Hajun, a Belarusian activist group that monitors troops movements in Belarus, revealed that nine convoys with more than 2,000 Wagner mercenaries already have rolled into the country.
A Wagner commander noted in a statement posted on a messaging app channel linked to the company that about 10,000 Wagner troops are set to move to Belarus.
A video released on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, appeared to show Wagner’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin for the first time since he led last month’s mutiny.
In the video, Prigozhin was seen informing his troops that they will spend some time in Belarus training its military to help “make the Belarusian army the second strongest army in the world” before deploying to Africa.
In addition to their involvement in Ukraine, Wagner mercenaries have been sent to Syria and several African countries since the private army was created in 2014.
Meanwhile, Belarus’ opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, opined that Wagner’s deployment to Belarus will destabilize the country and threaten its neighbors.
“The arrival of Wagner will add to instability, and no one will feel safe with these war criminals roaming the country,” Tsikhanouskaya said.
“They are extremely dangerous and their unpredictability raises the threat for Belarusians and our neighbors,” she added.
Tsikhanouskaya is currently not in Belarus as she was forced to leave the country after challenging Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko in a 2020 election that the opposition and the West denounced as fraudulent.
Poland Redeploys Troops To Country’s East
In response to Wagner presence around its border, the Defense Minister of Poland, Mariusz Blaszczak announced on Thursday that he has ordered to move some troops from the country’s west to Biala Podlaska, around 45 kilometers (28 miles) west from Brest, and in Kolno, further north.
“We must bear in mind that bringing a few thousand of Wagner’s forces into Belarus poses a threat to our country, hence my decision to move some military units from Poland’s west to Poland’s east,” Blaszczak averred.
“Their task it is to train and to deter an aggressor, it is to show Russia that Poland’s border should not be crossed, that it would not pay off to attack Poland.”
Mariusz Blaszczak
The Polish defense ministry assured that “Poland’s borders are secure, we are monitoring the situation on our eastern border on an ongoing basis and we are prepared for various scenarios as the situation develops.”
Meanwhile, the Kremlin claims Poland’s decision to increase its forces along its border with Belarus is “a cause for concern.”
Commenting on Poland’s move, Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “Of course, it is a cause for concern. The aggressiveness of Poland is a reality.”
“Such a hostile attitude towards Belarus and the Russian Federation requires heightened attention [from our side],” he added.
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