The Belarusian Ministry of Defense affirmed this Friday that the mercenaries of the Wagner Group have already begun training Belarusian troops. in a camp near the town of Osipovichi, 230 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
“Territorial defense training takes place near Osipóvichi,” says a Defense message on Telegram, in which it indicates that local troops are trained in some military disciplines by “instructors from the private military company Wagner”.
Defense also published a video of the training with comments from some of its soldiers about the mercenaries. “They participated in combat actions and this, of course, is a very useful experience for our Belarusian Army, which has not participated in real combat since the (Soviet) Afghanistan war,” a soldier said.
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“They are very prepared people, who know what they are doing, they can teach us many things. It is a very useful tool,” said another.
Another Belarusian soldier assured that today “it is necessary to carry out this kind of preparation” military. “We are very motivated and we are willing to defend the homeland,” he asserted.
This week, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense announced that planned to take advantage of Wagner’s arrival in the country to carry out an “exchange of experiences” between the Belarusian regular army and the Russian paramilitaries.
A week ago the Belarusian authorities stated that the mercenaries of
Wagner, who had to move to that country after the failure of the uprising on June 24, were not yet at the base offered by Minsk.
But Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko previously said that the Group
Wagner is the unit “most experienced in combat” and that “can serve the defense of Belarus if the country is attacked.”
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The conversation between Putin and Wagner
Details of the conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Wagner’s boss Yevgueni Prigozhin were also released this Friday. and other members of the military group on June 29 in the Kremlin.
In an interview with the Russian newspaper Kommersant published late Thursday, Putin claimed that he proposed to Wagner’s boss that his fighters serve under official authority from another command, but that he rejected the offer after the failed rebellion of the paramilitary group.
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Wagner’s fighters “could have been gathered in one place and continued their service. Nothing would change for them, they would be led by the person who was really their commander all this time,” Putin said.
Kommersant specified that this person is a commander of the Wagner group known as “Sedoy” (gray hair), who according to Putin was the one who actually led the paramilitaries on the Ukrainian front during the last 16 months.
The Russian president stated that many of those present “assented”, but that Prigozhin did not accept this solution.
Wagner’s coup shook power in Russia, at the height of the conflict in Ukraine. During the rebellion, Wagner’s fighters occupied the army headquarters in Rostov in southern Russia for several hours and advanced hundreds of kilometers in the direction of Moscow.
The mutiny ended on June 24, with an agreement for Prigozhin to leave for Belarus. and a proposal so that Wagner’s commanders could join the regular army, leave for Belarus or return to civilian life.
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As the Kremlin said this week, in the meeting with Wagner on June 29, Putin listened to “the explanations of the commanders” about the mutiny that they starred in five days ago and offered them employment options after the rebellion.
“The commanders themselves presented their version of what happened and stressed that they were staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the commander in chief,” said the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov.
Wagner’s leaders “also said they were willing to continue fighting for the Fatherland,” he added.
When asked by the Kommersat journalist whether Wagner will remain as a combat unit after the failed mutiny, Putin replied that such a private military company “does not exist.”
“We don’t have a law on private military organizations, that’s why (Wagner) doesn’t exist,” Putin said, adding that it is a legal issue related to the “real legalization” of this type of paramilitary companies.
“This matter must be debated in the Duma (lower house of Parliament and the Government. It is not an easy matter,” he said.
For this reason, the Kremlin said on Friday that it is considering legalizing private military companies, in particular the Wagner group.whose existence is not authorized by law despite its involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
“Legally, the Wagner private military company does not exist and has never existed, it is a question that must be studied, examined further,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters.
The spokesman said it was a “quite complex” issue, three weeks after the Wagner group’s failed mutiny.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With AFP and EFE
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