Next provocation from Minsk: Putin’s ally Alexander Lukashenko turns to Poland about the Wagner mercenaries stationed in Belarus.
Minsk – Beyond the Ukraine war, he is considered a compliant vassal of Moscow ruler Vladimir Putin: the Belarusian autocrat Alexander Lukashenko. With regard to the Wagner mercenaries who have arrived in his country, the 68-year-old politician has once again provoked neighboring Poland – this time with a particularly drastic choice of words.
Alexander Lukashenko: Belarus ruler directs Wagner threat to Poland
Specifically: the Belarusian state news agency Belta quoted Lukashenko loudly Reuters on Tuesday (1 August), saying Poles “should pray that we (the Wagner mercenaries, i. editor) hold and care for them. Otherwise they would have leaked out without us and would have destroyed Rzeszow and Warsaw to no small extent. So you shouldn’t blame me, you should thank me.”
The Polish government and parliament are based in the capital, Warsaw, with around 1.8 million inhabitants. The south-eastern Polish city of Rzeszow and the military airport there are considered the hub for western arms deliveries to Ukraine and for the supply of NATO troops in Germany neighboring country.
With around 196,000 inhabitants, Rzeszow is less than 100 kilometers from the Ukrainian border and around 250 kilometers from the Ukrainian city of Lviv (around 720,000 inhabitants). Meanwhile, in July, thousands of mercenaries from Wagner’s private army are said to have gone into exile in Belarus after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed uprising in Russia. According to satellite images, they set up camp in Ossipowitschi, around 100 kilometers south-east of the capital Minsk.
On the border with Belarus: Poland spotted around 100 Wagner mercenaries near Grodno
On Saturday (July 29) Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki reported a group of about 100 Wagner mercenaries are closer to the Belarusian city of Grodno near the Polish border approached. Morawiecki called the situation “increasingly dangerous”. Concerned about the sighted Wagner units, Poland sent an anti-terrorist unit to the Polish-Belarusian border. Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski announced on Twitter on Sunday (July 30) that 500 police officers, including the special unit described, are currently supposed to reinforce the country’s 5,000 border guards and 2,000 soldiers who are currently stationed at the border. The city of Grodno, with around 370,000 inhabitants, is only around 15 kilometers from the Polish border.
“Suddenly, I recently heard that Poland was furious that a detachment of up to 100 people was supposedly coming here,” Lukashenko said Reuters further quoted: “No Wagner detachments with 100 men are here (Grodno, d. editor.) pulled. And if they do, then only to show their military experience (Belarusian, d. editor.) to transfer brigades that are concentrated in Brest and Grodno.” Brest is also located in the extreme south-west of Belarus, right on the border with NATO member Poland.
Alexander Lukashenko: Putin ally jokes about Poland because of Wagner private army
It is not the first provocation since the Wagner mercenaries were expelled from Russia. Lukashenko joked at a meeting with Putin in July that some of the fighters were interested in entering Poland to “take a trip to Warsaw and Rzeszow”. The Polish military airfield in Rzeszow is heavily guarded by the Americans, including several Patriot anti-aircraft systems. The NATO Battlegroup Poland is also stationed in the north-east in Orzysz, including with the British Royal Lancers Regiment. (pm)
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