Mercenaries from the Wagner Group began joint exercises with the Belarusian army this Thursday, a month after the uprising against Moscow, leading Poland to increase its military presence at its borders.
The maneuvers fulfill a promise made by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to help protect Belarus in the event of an invasion, after his mercenaries moved to the country almost a month ago following an uprising against Moscow.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry said the week-long military exercises would take place at a firing range near Brest, a city on the border with Poland.
A video released Wednesday shows Prigozhin telling his troops that before they are deployed to Africa, they will spend some time in Belarus conducting training to “make the Belarusian army the second strongest army in the world.” to make”.
The activist group Belaruski Hajun, which tracks troop movements in Belarus, said nine convoys carrying more than 2,000 mercenaries from the Wagner Group had already arrived in the country and were now moving towards the military maneuvering zone near the border with Poland.
Poland’s Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak on Thursday ordered some of his country’s troops transferred from the west to Biala Podlaska, about 45 kilometers west of Brest, and to Kolno further north.
“We must bear in mind that bringing several thousand troops from the Wagner Group to Belarus poses a threat to our country. Therefore, I have decided to move some military units from the west of Poland to the east,” motivated Blaszczak.
In a post on social networks, a commander of the Wagner Group indicated that about 10,000 mercenaries would arrive in Belarus.
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was forced to leave the country after challenging President Lukashenko in the 2020 election, warned of the risk that mercenary presence could destabilize the region and threaten neighboring countries.
“The arrival of the Wagner Group will increase instability and no one will feel safe with these war criminals roaming the country,” the leader of the Belarusian opposition defended.
Source: DN
