Satellite images show tents
ISW: Wagner Group is setting up three camps in Belarus
7/1/2023 2:22 p.m
After the aborted coup against the Russian military leadership, Wagner boss Prigozhin left for Belarus. Apparently he is regrouping his mercenaries there: Experts report, citing satellite images, that three camps have been set up.
According to US experts, the Wagner mercenary group is building three military camps in Belarus, which is an ally of Moscow, after their failed revolt in Russia. “New high-resolution satellite images taken June 30 show at least 303 tents, each capable of accommodating 20 to 50 people, at a former military base in Belarus,” the Washington-based Institute for War Studies (ISW) wrote on Friday ( local time) in his daily situation report.
The tents appeared within the past week. There are also reports of plans for two more camps in western Belarus. In the past week, several independent Russian and Belarusian media had already reported on the construction of at least one military camp in Belarus intended to house Wagner mercenaries.
These reports have not yet been officially confirmed. The satellite images of the alleged Wagner camp near the town of Assipowitschy have meanwhile also been published by Western media such as the Washington Post.
Wagner’s presence in Belarus is causing concern among neighboring states. According to Poland, the mercenaries could destabilize Central and Eastern Europe. The troops could use migrants in Africa to trigger a refugee crisis, the Financial Times reports, citing Jacek Siewiera, head of Poland’s national security bureau.
Last Saturday, the head of the Wagner troop, Yevgeny Prigozhin, occupied the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and sent a military column towards Moscow. After negotiations, in which Belarus’ ruler Alexander Lukashenko acted as mediator, Prigozhin recalled his troops. In return, according to the Kremlin, he was granted amnesty and emigration to Belarus. The Wagner mercenaries were also guaranteed impunity.