There are currently around 4,000 mercenaries of the Russian “Wagner” group in Belarus, and some of them are located near the territory of Lithuania and Poland, Lithuanian President Gitans Nausėda and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Moraveckis announced on Thursday.
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“The data at our disposal shows that there are around 4,000 mercenaries”, Moraveckis told journalists after the meeting with Nausėda in Suwalkos, admitting that there could be a little more mercenaries.
“We compared the data we have of both and we can conclude that they are very similar. The number of mercenaries on the territory of Belarus exceeds or is close to 4,000, and some of them have come close to our border and taken positions in the Grodno region,” Nauseda added, saying , that “the situation is convenient for provocations both on the Polish-Belarusian and Lithuanian-Belarusian borders”.
Moraveckis, on the other hand, expressed his belief that Russia, using the Wagnerians, is testing the reaction of Poland and its allies.
“Wagner is a particular threat. The group’s units are being moved close to NATO’s eastern flank in order to destabilize it. This is a real threat, which has been confirmed by our allies,” the Polish prime minister said.
According to him, Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to “stir up chaos” and thus destabilize the situation in Poland and Lithuania.
As a possible threat, Moravecki listed the fact that the Wagnerians can be used to drive illegal migrants from Belarus to Poland, mercenaries can pretend to be illegal migrants to enter the territory of Poland or other countries on the eastern flank of NATO.
Over the weekend, Moraveckis announced that more than 100 “Wagner” mercenaries stationed in Belarus had been relocated near the Suwalki corridor near the Polish-Lithuanian border. Moraveckis warned that the situation is becoming more dangerous and the risks of a new hybrid attack on Poland are increasing. On the other hand, on Tuesday, the Ministry of Defense of Poland reported that two Belarusian military helicopters violated its airspace in the east of the country.
On Monday, Nausėda announced that the presence of “Wagner” mercenaries in Belarus near the Lithuanian border is a great danger and increases the risks of provocations.
Lithuanian and Polish officials have expressed readiness to close the border with Belarus in case of serious incidents.
The so-called Suwalki Corridor is an approximately 100-kilometer-wide section of the Lithuanian-Polish border, bordering the Königsberg (Karaņi) region in the west and Belarus in the east. In case of war, its seizure would close the land route to the Baltic states for NATO allies, therefore its protection is one of the most important tasks.
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2023-08-03 14:25:34
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