Wagner Mercenaries Training Belarusian Soldiers

Belarus announced on Friday that members of the Wagner mercenary group are training its soldiers at a military range southeast of the country's capital. According to Reuters, this is the first indication of the implementation of at least part of the agreement to end the rebellion of this paramilitary group in Russia. Two sources close to the group, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, told Reuters that some Wagner mercenaries have been in Belarus at least since Tuesday. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Wagner rebellion, which seized control of a major military base in southern Russia and then moved towards Moscow, could have plunged Russia into a civil war. While the Wagner group had reached within 200 kilometers of Moscow, the Kremlin agreed that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group, would go to Belarus in exchange for halting the advance towards Russia. However, until now, there has been no sign of Wagner mercenaries in Belarus, and Prigozhin has not been seen in public since he left the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don in early July. Nevertheless, Reuters reports that a private jet linked to him has been flying between Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Belarus. The Belarusian Defense Ministry's television network stated, 'Members of the Wagner group have been training the forces of this country in several military disciplines.' The state news agency of Belarus also reported that Wagner members are training Belarusian soldiers. The ministry released a video showing Wagner mercenaries training Belarusian soldiers at a military range near the city of Asipovichy, about 90 kilometers southeast of Minsk. When Reuters visited a camp near Asipovichy last week, organized by Belarus, no signs of Wagner mercenaries were observed there. The Wagner group, founded by Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, a former officer of the Russian military intelligence special forces, helped Moscow annex Crimea, fought ISIS in Syria, operated in the Central African Republic and Mali, and played a key role in the battle for Bakhmut. The United States and its allies have described Wagner as one of the most ruthless armed groups in the world, claiming it has plundered natural resources across Africa.