Wagner trains soldiers in Belarus after foiled mutiny in Russia | Military News

0

[ad_1]

The Belarusian defence ministry says the Russian mercenary group is working with its troops near the town of Asipovichy.

Fighters from Russia’s Wagner mercenary group are training soldiers in Belarus, according to the Belarusian defence ministry.

The ministry on Friday released a video showing Wagner Group fighters instructing Belarusian soldiers at a military range near the town of Asipovichy, about 90km (56 miles) southeast of the capital, Minsk.

“Wagner fighters acted as instructors in a number of military disciplines,” the ministry said.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko helped broker a deal to end a brief mutiny by Wagner on June 23-24 when the group took control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and marched towards Moscow, shooting down a number of Russian military helicopters and killing their pilots.

Under the deal, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin stood down his mercenaries and agreed to move to Belarus in exchange for Russia dropping mutiny charges.

Prigozhin has not been seen in public since leaving Rostov on June 24.

A channel on a Belarusian messaging app said Prigozhin spent a night at the camp this week, and it posted a photo of him inside a tent.

The Kremlin had confirmed but has given few details about a meeting in Moscow between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prigozhin and other Wagner commanders five days after the mutiny.

In the Kommersant interview published on Thursday evening, Putin said he had offered a way forward for Wagner fighters.

“They could all gather in one place and continue to serve,” Putin was quoted as saying. “Nothing would have changed for them. They would have been led by the same person, who was their real commander all this time.”

The Russian leader said “many nodded” but Prigozhin ultimately refused the offer.

Wagner had operated in the shadows for years.

It came into the spotlight during fighting in Ukraine despite the fact that private military companies are illegal in Russia.

Putin, who previously denied any links between the Russian government and Wagner, acknowledged after the mutiny that Prigozhin’s company has received billions of dollars from the state.

He noted that investigators would probe whether any of the funds had been stolen, a warning to Prigozhin that he could face financial charges.

[ad_2]

Source link

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.