A fighter from the Russian Wagner mercenary group conducts training for Belarusian soldiers on a range near the town of Osipovichi, Belarus. (Voen Tv/Belarusian Defence Ministry/Reuters)
Metropolis Desk-
After weeks of ambiguity about the group’s future following its unsuccessful rebellion in Russia, Belarus announced on Friday that instructors from the Russian mercenary unit Wagner were training its forces.
A pact that called for the departure to Belarus of some Wagner warriors and their vocal leader Yevgeny Prigozhin put a stop to the brief uprising.
But Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko questioned the agreement earlier this month when he claimed that no Wagner fighters had yet entered the nation.
The arrival of at least a few Wagner fighters was reportedly confirmed by the Belarusian defense ministry on Friday.
According to a statement from the defense ministry, territorial defense troop units are receiving training close to Asipovichy.
According to the statement, “fighters from the Wagner private military company are serving as instructors in a variety of military specialties.”
Later, the ministry stated that it had developed “a road map for the near term on training and sharing experience” between several units with Wagner.
The Wagner organization, which was heavily recruited from Russian jails, was instrumental in the offensive in Ukraine.
A video released by the Belarusian defense ministry showed masked fighters as instructors in the drills for soldiers living in a nearby tent camp.
A group of foreign reporters earlier this month was shown a camp near Asipovichy where Belarusian officials said the mercenaries could be based. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address Friday that Kyiv was “closely monitoring what is happening there in terms of security.” The latest development came as the clock ran down on a UN and Turkiye-mediated deal with Russia to allow Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea — a vital supply route for the developing world. The deal, first signed in July 2022, five months after Moscow’s all-out assault on Ukraine, is set to expire on Monday.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has often threatened to not renew it due to what he claims are barriers to Russian exports. On Friday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, sounded optimistic about the likelihood of an agreement renewal.
Erdogan told reporters, “We are getting ready to welcome Putin in August and we agree on the extension of the Black Sea grain corridor.”
However, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, informed the Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti that “there were no statements on this subject from the Russian side.”
The much-hyped counteroffensive in Ukraine, which started last month, continued but made only extremely slow progress.
Ukraine said on Friday its forces had moved forward 1,700 meters (just over a mile) on the front line in the south over the past seven days. Ukrainian troops are advancing despite “dense” minefields and shelling, Mykola Urshalovych, a senior representative of the National Guard, told reporters.
There have also been some advances to the north and south of Bakhmut, a city captured by Russian troops in May after a battle lasting nearly a year. Ukrainian forces aim to surround the eastern city in a pincer movement.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, admitted that Kyiv’s troops were advancing “not so quickly.”
“If we are going to see that something is going wrong, we’ll say so. No one is going to embellish,” he told reporters.
Yermak also said that Ukraine would not consider talks with Moscow until Russian troops had left.
“Even thinking about these talks is only possible after Russian troops leave our territory,” he said.
Ukraine has put the tardy delivery of promised weapons on their shoulders and requested that allies supply fighter jets and long-range missiles.
In his evening speech, Zelensky discussed the difficulties the frontline troops were facing.
“We must all comprehend, as plainly as possible, that the Russian forces operating in our southern and eastern regions are doing all in their power to obstruct our troops.
The commander said, “And every thousand meters of advance, every victory of each of our fighting brigades deserves thanks.
In the fourth night in a row that Moscow has launched aerial assaults, the Ukrainian air force reported on Friday that it has shot down 16 Iranian-made drones.
Source- Arab News
