Videos posted on social media show Wagner troops being escorted by the Belarusian police, the New York Times reported on Sunday. Satellite images also show increased activity at the tent camp that may host the group following its short-lived mutiny in Russia.
The images do not prove that Wagner forces have reached Belarus, but they bolster statements by the British Defence Ministry that “at least a small contingent of Wagner fighters have arrived at a camp in Belarus”, the NYT wrote.
Wagner, a Russian military company, staged a mutiny last month before an agreement was allegedly brokered by Minsk for the group to relocate to Belarus. A field camp was reportedly set up near Osipovichi, a town in central Belarus, which had remained mostly empty.
Belaruski Hajun, a group uniting activists that monitor military movements in Belarus, also said at least 60 trucks, buses and other vehicles crossed from Russia on Saturday. The convoy headed toward the tent camp in Osipovichi, it said.
On Monday, a Vilnius official said there was no need to take additional measures on the Lithuanian border with Belarus.
"On the Belarusian side, there are no special movements at the [Lithuanian] border or incidents,” Giedrius Mišutis, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service (VSAT), told BNS on Saturday, adding that “the border is calm”.
Earlier, Lithuanian authorities said there was a risk Wagner may stage “provocations” on the Belarusian border with Latvia, Lithuania, or Poland.
Minsk previously orchestrated a migration crisis, channelling thousands of people toward the EU border in response to sanctions, which were put in place following the regime’s brutal crackdown on the opposition.
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