The mercenaries of the Russian private military company Wagner are not moving towards the Suwalki Gap, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko was quoted as saying by the Belarusian state news agency Belta.
On Saturday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that around 100 Wagner mercenaries, who recently moved to Belarus, started moving towards the Suwalki Gap near Grodno.
“No Wagner units of 100 people are moving anywhere. And if they do, it is only to pass on combat experience to the brigades in Brest and Grodno,” Lukashenko said.
“Look, the Suwalki Gap is not in Belarus. We are not moving along it, nor are we approaching it. We don’t need it. The most important thing is to remain calm,” he added.
He also said that he would like the Wagner mercenaries to remain in the territory of Belarus.
On July 30, the Belarusian Defence Ministry announced that Wagner had conducted training with elements of several Belarusian mechanised brigades.
Wagner fighters started coming to Belarus after their failed June mutiny in Russia, which was reportedly brought to an end by Alexander Lukashenko who allowed Russian mercenaries to move to his country.
Further reading
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
