Poland Sends Hundreds Of Counterterrorism Police To Belarus Border On Wagner Fears

Poland is preparing to bolster defenses along its border with Belarus in the wake of the Wagner mercenary mutiny in Russia and the relocation of the group’s controversial leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to Minsk.

Politico is reporting Sunday that the Polish government will send an additional 500 police officers from elite counterterrorism and riot control units to the border, amid concerns that Wagner bases have been established inside Belarus. Already last week Ukraine said it would strengthen its military positions along the northern border. 

Writes Politico, “The move comes after 187 people tried to cross from Belarus into Poland illegally on Saturday, according to the Polish Border Guard. Warsaw accuses Minsk of trying to create a migrant crisis by attempting to push people from Africa and the Middle East across the border into Poland. Belarus denies the accusation.”

Polish officials have confirmed there are currently 5,000 security guards and 2,000 soldiers at the border with Belarus, to be joined by the newly deployed 500 police officers from specialized units.

Law and Justice leader Jarosław Kaczynski warned days ago that Wagner fighters in Belarus could mean “a new phase of hybrid warfare, a phase much more difficult than the one we have dealt with so far,” as cited in Reuters.

While there’s been nothing in the way of confirmation that a large-scale movement of Wagner fighters have entered, Western media reports on Friday referenced satellite images which they say suggests new Wagner encampments on Belarusian soil: 

The satellite image appears to show activity at a disused military base about 13 miles (21km) from the town of Asipovichy – around 64 miles from Minsk, the capital of Belarus. The area has been reported in Russian media as a place which could house Wagner fighters.

BBC Verify has identified over 300 tent-like structures erected within the past two weeks.

A satellite image from 15 June shows none of these structures visible. The most recent high-resolution image we’ve obtained is from 30 June and reveals the extensive work being carried out at the base

Polish officials have recently suggested that 8,000 Wagner fighters are currently in Belarus.

New satellite imagery analyzed by The New York Times shows hundreds of large tents at an unused military base in Belarus. The base could be a home for Wagner fighters who were given the option to relocate to Belarus after an aborted mutiny. https://t.co/KzywjwKM4M

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 1, 2023

Warsaw plans to additionally add to its fortifications along the Belarusian border, also amid ongoing NATO troop build-up along the alliances ‘eastern flank’, also in places like Lithuania.