Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said that Poland has decided to move its troops from the west to the east, closer to the border with Belarus, due to possible threats amid reports of Wagner PMC mercenaries training in Belarus.
Zbigniew Hoffman, a representative of Poland’s government security committee, said this in an interview with the Polish news agency PAP.
Poland moves troops from the west to the east
According to the publication, the security committee of Poland, a NATO member, analysed possible threats related to the presence of the Russian military group Wagner’s fighters in Belarus.
“Training or joint exercises of the Belarusian army and the Wagner group are undoubtedly a provocation. We can expect such Russian-Belarusian actions”.
Gbigniew Hoffmann, Secretary of the Security Committee of the Council of Ministers of Poland
Hoffman said that a meeting of the Polish Security Committee was held, which, among other things, analysed possible threats, such as the deployment of Wagner Group units.
“The Minister of National Defense, the chairman of the committee, Mariusz Blaszczak, decided to move our military units from the west to the east of Poland. The task of these units is to train and deter a potential aggressor”.
Gbigniew Hoffmann, Secretary of the Security Committee of the Council of Ministers of Poland
How the Wagner mercenaries came to Belarus?
After the mutiny of Wagner PMC leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in late June, the Kremlin announced the mercenaries’ relocation to Belarus.
On June 27, the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, confirmed the arrival of Yevgeny Prigozhin in the country. According to him, the Wagner fighters who arrived with him will not guard the Russian tactical nuclear weapons deployed there.
However, Lukashenko emphasized that he expected the mercenaries to help in the defence of Belarus. However, the dictator did not specify from whom Belarus intends to defend itself.
On June 29, a satellite recorded the construction of a tent camp near Osipovichi in the Mogilev region of Belarus. On July 3, Russian media published a photo of a possible base for Wagnerites.
On July 11, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense stated that the Wagner fighters would teach the Belarusian army how to fight.
On July 14, it was reported that training sessions with units of the territorial troops were taking place near Osipovichi (Belarus), where Wagner PMC fighters were acting as instructors in some military disciplines.
On the morning of July 15, a large convoy of cars and trucks with license plates of the so-called DPR and LPR was spotted in Belarus. These were probably mercenaries of the Wagner PMC. Ukraine’s Border Guard Service confirmed this information.
On Sunday, July 16, the monitoring group Belaruski Gayun reported that two flags – of Russia and Wagner PMC – were installed at the checkpoint on the border between Belarus and Russia.
Wagner’s members announced that on July 30, the main PMC base in the Russian Federation, located in the village of Molkino in Krasnodar Krai, would be closed.
On July 19, Wagner PMC boss Yevgeny Prigozhin spoke to Wagner members in Belarus, calling the situation at the front a “disgrace” and urging mercenaries to “wait for the moment to prove themselves to the fullest.”
On July 20, it became known that another convoy with Wagner PMC fighters arrived in Belarus, the ninth since the mercenaries entered the country, Belorusski Gayun reports.
The National Resistance Center reported that a clash between Wagner PMC mercenaries and local border guards took place in the Gomel region of Belarus.
On Thursday, July 20, the Polish Ministry of Defense reacted to the joint training of Wagner PMC mercenaries and the Belarusian army near the Polish border. It stated that the country’s borders are safe and ready for “various scenarios that may arise in the future.”
Photo credit: PAP
