Ukrainian border guards confirm Wagnerites leaving Belarus

Ukrainian border guards and intelligence have observed the outflow of Russian mercenaries from the territory of Belarus.

Source: Andrii Demchenko, spokesman for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service (SBGS), in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda

Details: The officer said there has been a certain outflow of Wagnerites from Belarus lately. The SBGS expects that it may intensify following the news from Russia about the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, financier of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC).

Quote: "We have observed that the number of representatives of the Wagner PMC in the Republic of Belarus has recently fallen. And this situation existed even before yesterday. Therefore, like before, they do not pose a significant threat to our country.

And given yesterday's events in Russia, the further stay of the Wagnerites in Belarus may be questionable.

We also note that the outflow of Russian mercenaries from Belarus is ongoing."

Previously: A camp of Wagnerites is undergoing active dismantling in the village of Ceľ near Asipovičy in Belarus, as evidenced by satellite imagery from Planet Labs.

Background:

• On the evening of 23 August, a small plane crashed in Russia’s Tver Oblast, and the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency 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. They also said a terrorist attack on board is being considered as a line of enquiry regarding the crash of Prigozhin's plane.
• The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency has posted a full list of the passengers on the plane that crashed in Russia’s Tver Oblast on the evening of 23 August, with Yevgeny Prigozhin noted to be there.
• 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 in Russia.

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