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The Belarusian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group have begun training Belarusian special forces at a military distance a few miles from the border with NATO member Poland.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin appeared in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would not take part in the Ukraine war for the time being, but telling them to gather strength for Africa as they trained the Belarusian army.
“The Armed Forces of Belarus continue joint training with fighters of Wagner PMC (Private Military Company),” said the Belarusian Ministry of Defense.
“During the week, units of the Special Operations Forces, together with representatives of the company, will perform combat training missions on the Brest Military Range.”
The range is only 3 miles (5 km) east of the Polish border.
Minsk has released photos of masked Wagner instructors, their faces covered per the mercenary group’s rules, training Belarusian soldiers with armored vehicles and what appear to be drone controls.
Poland, a former member of the Warsaw Pact and a full member of the US-led military coalition since 1999, began moving more than 1,000 troops to the country’s east earlier this month amid growing concerns that Belarus’s Wagner fighters could lead to increased tensions on its border.
On Thursday, Poland’s defense ministry said the country’s borders were secure and it was ready for “various scenarios as the situation evolves”.
Asked about Poland’s move, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “Of course, this is a cause for concern. Poland’s aggressiveness is a reality.”
Such a hostile attitude towards Belarus and the Russian Federation requires increased attention (on our part).
The failed Wagner rebellion of June 23-24 was interpreted by the West as a challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s rule that illustrated the weakness of the 70-year-old Kremlin chief and the strain of Ukraine’s war on the Russian state.
Russia rejects this interpretation and says that the Russian people have rallied around Putin and the military.
Mercenary plans
A deal was struck on June 24, according to which the mercenaries would move to Belarus in exchange for the charges against them being dropped. Putin said the fighters could leave for Belarus, submit to the command of the Defense Ministry, or return to their families.
Wagner lost 22,000 of its men in the Ukrainian war, while 40,000 were wounded, and up to 10,000 fighters will end up in Belarus, according to a senior commander reposted by Wagner.
Reuters has not been able to confirm what appears to be the most detailed distribution of Wagner numbers for several months. But if accurate it gives an insight into the extent of the losses suffered by both sides in the Ukraine War – and the continuing power of one of the most powerful mercenary forces in the world.
The senior commander known by his nom de guerre “Marx”, Wagner’s chief of staff, said in the post that a total of 78,000 Wagner men took part in what he described as the “Ukrainian Business Trip”, 49,000 of them prisoners.
Wagner helped Russia annex Crimea in 2014, fought the Islamic State in Syria, operated in the Central African Republic and Mali, and captured the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut for Russia earlier this year with heavy losses on both sides.
“Up to 10,000 fighters have gone or will go to Belarus,” he said. “About 15,000 went on vacation.”
The publication contradicted the statements of a Russian deputy who said that up to 33,000 Wagner fighters had signed contracts with the Ministry of Defense.
“If all the dead and those who went on vacation signed up, I suppose it could,” Marks said.
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