Wagner Takes Foothold In Belarus

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In recent days, several military columns of the Wagner PMC were spotted heading towards the Belarusian border, while other Wagner forces are already training the Belarusian military.

On July 12, the Russian Ministry of Defence declared that the Wagner PMC had handed its heavy weapons and ammunition over to the Russian Defense Ministry. They reportedly included 2,000 weapons:

• T-90, T-80, T-72B3 tanks;
• multiple launch rocket systems “Grad”, “Hurricane”;
• anti-aircraft missile and cannon complexes “Pantsir”;
• self–propelled artillery – 2S1 “Carnation” (122 mm), 2S3 “Acacia” (152 mm), 2C5 “Hyacinth” (152 mm), 2C4 “Tulip” (240 mm).
• As well as howitzers, anti-tank guns, mortars, armored tractors, armored personnel carriers, cars,
• 20 thousand small arms.

The relocation of PMC units to the territory of the Republic of Belarus has officially begun.

The next day, a military convoy of PMCs was spotted on its way to the Belarusian border. At least two more columns were filmed by the locals in the Russian regions on July 14 and 15. There was reportedly no military equipment with the PMCs.

While the PMC officially began the transfer of its military equipment, some Wagner fighters are already training the Belarusian military.

On July 14, the official representatives of the Russian military department informed that the fighters of the Wagner PMC instructed the servicemen of the territorial defense forces of the Republic of Belarus.

“Conscripts are mastering their skills of tactical shooting and moving on the battlefield. They gain knowledge of engineering training and tactical medicine. The Wagner PMC fighters acted as instructors in a number of military disciplines,” the Ministry of Defense of Belarus confirmed.

The training took place at the training ground near the town of Osipovichi, in the Mogilev region, 350 km from Kiev.

According to the Belarusian officials, the camp will accommodate up to 5 thousand people, as well as the necessary amount of military equipment. It was clarified that the camp was intended for training the territorial defense troops. At the moment, the final decision on whether the Wagner Group’s employees will be located in the camp or not is yet to be made.

The footage of the camp reveals that is unlikely to become the base of Wagner’s permanent deployment because there are only tents seen on the photos.

At the same time, according to unconfirmed reports, Wagner forces deployed in Africa will  also come to Belarus. Thus, the creation of large military bases with all necessary infrastructure is likely to continue.

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Despite the fact that the PMC was disarmed and is performing only training tasks in Belarus, Kiev and Warsaw are highly alarmed by the move of Wagner fighters.

In early July, the Polish General Command declared that they Polish military was strengthening is presence in eastern regions. The military deployment began on July 8.

“One thousand soldiers and almost 200 pieces of military equipment from the 12th and 17th mechanized brigades will move to the east of Poland.” – the Polish military declared.

In its turn, Ukraine decided to mine the border with Belarus, which was already reinforced by numerous checkpoints, trenches and minefields after the Russian military left the northern regions of the country.

“We understand that we will not need the civilian state border line with our northern neighbors for a long time, since we have no friends on the other side of the border,” Lieutenant General Sergei Naev, Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, explained Kiev’s decision.

Over the past 10 days, the Ukrainian military had created 30 more minefields and barriers in the border zone, which required 5,8 thousand mines. About 5,000 meters of trenches and 6.5 thousand meters of anti-tank ditches have been equipped along the border, firing positions for personnel and military equipment have been created, according to the Ukrainian military.

The Wagner PMC is unlike to enter the battles in Ukraine in the near future. However, this possibility is not excluded. Is Wagner fighting or not, it continues distracting the Ukrainian military from the ongoing hostilities on the frontlines.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• Putin Says Wagner Group Does Not Exist
• Wagner Forces, Including Prigozhin, Now Fully Integrated Into Russia’s Military
• Putin Met With Prigozhin, Other Wagner Commanders, Who Expressed Readiness To Fight For Russia