This image from video appears to show Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, left, for the first time since he led a short-lived rebellion in June
Mercenaries from Russia’s military company Wagner yesterday launched joint drills with the Belarusian military near the border with Poland following their relocation to Belarus after their short-lived rebellion, a move that prompted Warsaw to redeploy its troops.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry said that the weeklong maneuvers 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 video released Wednesday appeared to show Wagner’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin for the first time since he led last month’s rebellion. In the video, Prigozhin was seen telling his troops they would 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.
The U.K. government on Thursday imposed asset freezes and travel bans on 13 Wagner mercenaries over alleged attacks on civilians and other human rights abuses in Africa. Britain has already sanctioned Prigozhin and several other Wagner commanders over the group’s role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In his revolt that began on June 23 and lasted less than 24 hours, Prigozhin’s mercenaries captured the military headquarters in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don without firing a shot and then moved as close as 200 kilometers to Moscow. The mutiny faced little resistance. The mercenaries downed at least six military helicopters and a command post aircraft, killing at least 10 airmen.
Prigozhin had called it a “march of justice” to oust Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Staff chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov, who demanded that Wagner forces sign contracts with the Defense Ministry. He ordered his troops back to their camps after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered a deal to end the rebellion in exchange for an amnesty for Prigozhin and his fighters and a permission to relocate to Belarus.
The revolt posed the most serious threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 23-year rule, eroding his authority and exposing the government’s weakness.
Belaruski Hajun, a Belarusian activist group that monitors troops movements in Belarus, said that nine convoys with more than 2,000 Wagner mercenaries already have rolled into the country. A Wagner commander said in a statement posted on a messaging app channel linked to the company that about 10,000 Wagner troops are set to deploy to Belarus.
Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC which were analyzed by The Associated Press showed a convoy of vehicles at the base near Tsel in the Asipovichy region of Belarus, about 90 kilometers southeast of Minsk, which the Belarusian authorities offered to Wagner.
Belarus’ opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was forced to leave the country after challenging Lukashenko in a 2020 election that the opposition and the West denounced as fraudulent, said that Wagner’s deployment to Belarus will destabilize the country and threaten its neighbors. MDT/AP
