Ukrainian border guards confirm Wagner Group activity in Belarus

July 15, BPN. The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine says it has registered the movement of Wagner Group mercenaries in Belarus, after the defense ministry in Minsk said the Russian company was training territorial troops in the east.

“As of now, available information indicates that individual groups of members of private military companies moving from Russia have been observed in Belarus,” said Andrii Demchenko, a spokesman for the service.

Ukrainian border guards are monitoring the situation to understand their location, number and tasks, the service said on Telegram.

Biełaruski Hajun, a defense monitoring project associated with the Belarusian opposition, said today that at least 60 Wagner Group vehicles entered the country overnight near Kryčaŭ.

The convoy, accompanied by road police, moved toward Babrujsk and then Asipovičy, a town in the Mahiloŭ region, it said.

The Kremlin-linked private military contractor announced its relocation to Belarus in early July after a feud with the Russian defense ministry and a failed mutiny.

Alaksandar Łukašenka’s defense ministry and the Wagner Group designed a road map for the company to train Belarusian troops, the ministry said in a statement yesterday.