Wagner mercenary group arrives in Belarus after mutiny: report

Wagner mercenaries have started arriving in Belarus following their aborted mutiny on Moscow, Ukrainian border officials said.

The DPSU, Ukraine’s border guard service, said it is looking into how many “militants” are in Belarus after approximately 60 Wagner vehicles reportedly crossed the border into the Russian ally on Saturday, BBC reported.

The reported arrival comes after Wagner fighters were given the option of either joining the regular Russian army or going to Belarus after a 24-hour rebellion by the mercenary force last month.

On Friday, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said Wagner troops were training the Belarusian military.

“The conscripts master the skills of moving on the battlefield and tactical shooting, gain knowledge of engineering and tactical training,” the ministry wrote on Telegram.

“As instructors in a number of military disciplines were the fighters of the PMC ‘Wagner.’”

The post also included a video showing Wagner troops training Belarusian fighters, which is the first time the mercenaries had been spotted in the neighboring country, although the clip only shows a small number of troops.

Meanwhile, the location of the mercenary group’s leaders, including Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has not been since in public since the mutiny. An unflattering photo of the warlord in his underwear appeared online Friday, in what observers suggested was part of a smear campaign orchestrated by Moscow.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden jokingly suggested that Prigozhin may want to be on the lookout for an attempted poisoning. “If I were he, I’d be careful what I ate,” Biden said during a press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in Helsinki. “I’d keep an eye on my menu.”

“But all kidding aside, who knows,” Biden added. “I don’t know, I don’t think any of us know for certain what the future of Prigozhin is in Russia.”

Earlier this month, a top Ukrainian spy official said that Russia was plotting to kill Prigozhin although the plan could take time to materialize.

Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate, said the Russian Federal Security Service was tasked with carrying out a hit on Prigozhin.

“It will take them some time to have the proper approaches and to reach the stage when they’re ready to add a huge operation,” Budanov said. “But once again, I’d like to underline that it’s a big open question. Would they be successful in fulfilling that? Will they dare to to execute that order?”