MOSCOW: Belarus announced on Saturday that instructors from the Russian mercenary force Wagner were training its troops, following weeks of uncertainty about the future of the group after its failed mutiny in Russia.
The short-lived rebellion was ended by a deal under which some Wagner fighters and their outspoken leader Yevgeny Prigozhin were supposed to move to Belarus.
But Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had cast doubt on the deal when he said earlier this month that no Wagner fighters had moved to the country yet.
The Belarusian defence ministry appeared to confirm Friday that at least some Wagner fighters had arrived. “Near Asipovichy, units of territorial defence troops are undergoing training,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
“Fighters of the Wagner private military company are acting as instructors in a number of military disciplines,” it said. The ministry later added that it and Wagner had worked out “a road map for the near term on training and sharing experience” between various units.
The Wagner group, which recruited extensively from Russian prisons, played a key role in the Ukraine offensive.
A video released by the Belarusian defence 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 Turkey-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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly threatened not to renew it because of what he says have been obstacles to Russian exports.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared confident on Friday on the prospects of an extension to the deal.
“We are preparing to welcome Putin in August and we agree on the extension of the Black Sea grain corridor,” Erdogan told reporters.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told.“There were no statements on this subject from the Russian side”.
