Convoys of Wagner Troops Roll Into Belarus

A convoy of Wagner Group fighters rolled into Belarus on Monday, the third group of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenaries to cross the border from Russia since last week.

Belaruski Hajun, an opposition group that monitors military movements in Belarus, said a convoy of about 20 vehicles carrying Russian flags and Wagner insignia rolled into the country Monday and made for a field camp that local authorities had offered to the company.

The troops arrived in standard pickup trucks, vans, and SUVs, without armor or heavy weapons. It wasn't clear how many Wagner soldiers have moved to Belarus.

On Sunday, Ukrainian and Polish officials said that Wagner troops were training Belarus forces southeast of the capital. "Wagner is in Belarus," Andriy Demchenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian border agency, said on the Telegram.

Belarusian state TV on Friday showed Wagner instructors training national guardsmen at a firing range in the Asipovichy region.

Under terms of a deal to end last month’s Wagner uprising, Prigozhin and his loyal troops were offered sanctuary in Belarus in exchange for laying down their arms. 

But Prigozhin’s whereabouts are unclear. A Belarusian social media channel last week posted a photo of Prigozhin sitting on a cot inside a tent wearing a T-shirt and boxer shorts, and said he’d spent a night at the camp near Tsel, about 55 miles southeast of Minsk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that he had offered Wagner troops a choice between signing contracts with Russia’s defense ministry, accepting exile in Belarus or retiring from armed service.

During a meeting five days after the Wagner mutiny folded, Putin said, he suggested that Wagner officers serve in a single unit under their longtime combat commander, making no mention of Prigozhin.