Wagner Group actively dismantles camp in Belarus

Military camp of the Wagner Private Military Group (PMC) is being actively dismantled in the village of Ceľ near Asipovičy in Belarus – this is evidenced by a Planet Labs’ satellite image.

Source: Radio Liberty

Details: According to the estimates of the publication, one third of the tents have already been removed.

At first, there were about 129 tents in the northern part of the Wagner military base; as of 23 August, about 65 of them had disappeared.

In the western part of the military town, about 27 tents were dismantled out of about 64 that were there previously.

In the central part of the base there were about 80 tents, now about 9 of them are missing.

The publication emphasises that in this way, out of 273 residential tents, about 101 were dismantled. And if one were to consider that each of the tents can accommodate about 20 soldiers, that would mean that 2,020 Wagnerites out of 5,000 previously stationed there have left the territory of the military unit in the village of Ceľ. 

It is reported that the dismantling of the first tents began around 1 August.

On the satellite image from 14 August, it is possible to see the disassembly process in good quality – in particular, wooden bunks for the soldiers who lived there could be seen.

It is currently unknown where these tents could be transported and whether the Wagner mercenaries left the territory of Belarus.

Radio Liberty notes that the satellite images available to the editorial office do not show the formation of such tent camps on the territory of other Belarusian training grounds or military units. Journalists continue to monitor the situation.

Information suggesting that Wagnerites were sent home to Russia on a long vacation is circulating in Telegram channels associated with the PMC.

There is also a possibility that some of the Wagner mercenaries are being transferred to Africa.

It is also possible that some of the Wagnerites will be transferred to other places in Belarus.

In particular, it was previously reported that dugouts suitable for living in winter conditions were created on the territory of the Repische military training ground. A satellite image dated 31 July 2023 shows about 30 new objects that appeared on these training grounds. 

Previously: 

• On the evening of 23 August, a small plane crashed in Russia’s Tver Oblast, and the Russians claimed that Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, was on board.
• The Grey Zone Telegram channel, which is close to the Wagner Group, claimed that Yevgeny Prigozhin's plane had been shot down by air defence fire.
• It was also shared that a terrorist attack on board is being considered as a line of enquiry regarding the crash of Prigozhin's plane.
• The VCHK-OGPU Telegram channel, which is also affiliated with the Wagner Group, reported that the bodies of Prigozhin and his deputy, Dmitry Utkin, had been found and identified. Grey Zone added that "Prigozhin died as a result of the actions of traitors to Russia".
• The Russian media saw a certain symbolism in the fact that the plane crash occurred on 23 August, exactly two months after the Wagner Group’s mutiny [Prigozhin announced his "march for justice" on the evening of 23 June – ed.].
• Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin was taking revenge for the humiliation caused by the Wagner Group mutiny and ordered the assassination of their leadership.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had nothing to do with the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, in Russia.

Background: 

• The mercenaries of the Wagner Group had been fighting in Ukraine, notably in Bakhmut, but at the end of spring went to field camps.
• On 24 June, the Wagner PMC began an armed rebellion in Russia due to a conflict with the military command of the Russian Federation, but in the evening of the same day, after a conversation with self-proclaimed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Yevgeny Prigozhin said that his mercenaries were returning to field camps. The criminal case against Prigozhin in the Russian Federation was closed, and he agreed to relocate to Belarus. 
• On 11 July, the Ministry of Defence of Belarus wanted to "exchange experience" with mercenaries from the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) at Belarusian training grounds. On 14 July mercenaries with units of the territorial forces of the Republic of Belarus were already training near Asipovičy.

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