Poland pledged to send more police to the Belarus border to prevent Wagner Group from creating a stronghold.
In addition to the 5,000 border guards and 2,000 soldiers already stationed there, 500 police, including members of the anti-terrorism unit, have been sent to the border with the country’s eastern neighbor.
Security problems are being handled by Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who recently promised an increase in uniformed soldiers and a strengthening of border fortifications.
Kaczynski claims that Poland has learned that Belarus has the capacity to host up to 8,000 Wagner warriors. The length of Poland’s border with its Russian ally is 418 kilometers (or 259 miles).
Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin fled to Belarus after a failed rebellion over the weekend, accepting the protection of Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko and his mercenary troops.
Russian Defense Minister Shoigu and top general Valery Gerasimov were blamed by Prigozhin for Russian tactical failures in Ukraine, prompting Wagner forces to occupy a city in the south of the country and head for Moscow.
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Raising Safety Concerns
Security concerns were raised in EU countries bordering Belarus, including Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania, all of whom are members of Nato, but were left perplexed by the brief mutiny and rapid resolution, as were analysts in Russia.
Meanwhile, the head of one of Prigozhin’s media sites said that the holding company will be closing down, underlining the rapid decline in the media mogul’s fortunes over the past week.
Prigozhin and his Wagner Group were featured favorably in Patriot Media’s coverage, and the company’s most notable source, the RIA FAN news site, had taken a strongly nationalist, pro-Kremlin editorial line.
Kommersant, a Russian tabloid, said on Friday that Prigozhin-affiliated media outlets had been shut down by Roskomnadzor, the country’s communications watchdog, without providing further details.
Some Russian news outlets have also claimed that Prigozhin’s “troll factory” has been shut down after being used to sway public opinion in the United States and other nations.
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Source: SCMP