Large Wagner group convoy enters Belarus from Russia

A large convoy filled with fighters from the Wagner group was spotted entering Belarus from Russia early on Saturday.

At least 60 trucks, buses and other large vehicles crossed into the eastern european country accompanied by Belarusian police, according to independent monitoring group Belaruski Hajun, which tracks armed forces in Belarus.

It also reported the country's defense ministry said it planned for the mercenaries and the country's own armed forces to conduct joint military drills.

Belaruski Hajun has not shared photos or videos of the vehicles but said they had number plates from Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine, where Wagner mercenaries fought alongside Russian troops until a short-lived mutiny last month.

The convoy headed towards a military base outside Osipovichi, a town 142 miles north of the Ukrainian border, Belaruski Hajun said.

Satellite images this month showed rows of tent-like structures that appeared to have been built at the base between June 15 and June 30.The authoritarian president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said he had offered the fighters an “abandoned military unit,” to set up camp.

That same week, a leader of an anti-Lukashenko guerrilla group said construction of a site for the mercenaries was underway near Osipovichi.Later on Saturday, about 240 Wagner fighters, 40 trucks and “a large amount of weapons” had arrived in the Osipovichi area, according to Ukraine’s Center for National Resistance, an arm of the Ukrainian defense ministry that assists guerrilla groups in Russia-occupied territory.

It cited unspecified members of Belarus’ underground anti-Lukashenko opposition as the source of the information, which couldn't be independently verified.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry said in an online statement late Friday that it had developed a “road map” with Wagner’s management for joint training exercises drills by the nation's military personnel and the private mercenaries.

Earlier in the day footage of fighters in black masks instructing soldiers on how to shoot and provide first aid were shown on a Belarusian television channel.

On June 23, the Wagner group staged a 24 hour revolt, and swept through the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and captured the military headquarters there, before driving to within about 200 kilometers (125 miles) of the Russian capital.

Putin indicated on Friday that he intends to maintain Wagner as a single fighting force under its existing commander, while appearing to denigrate Prigozhin.

His remarks, made in an interview with Russia’s Kommersant newspaper, seemed to reflect the Kremlin’s efforts to secure the loyalty of the mercenaries, who make up some of the most capable Russian forces in Ukraine.

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