Wagner mercenaries in Belarus lack resources to launch new offensive on Ukraine – Zelensky
Photo: Office of the President
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that Wagner mercenaries transferred to Belarus do not pose a threat to Ukraine.
The Interfax-Ukraine news agency reports this, citing Zelensky during a press conference following his meeting with Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.
I can't say that they [the Wagner Group mercenaries] will pose a threat in Belarus because I think that amount of troops is not very large.
Zelensky explained that Ukraine's defense forces eliminated the majority of Wagner mercenaries fighting in Ukraine, which is why their number marching on Moscow was not large.
He says the Ukrainian army believes that the situation in the north is "unchanged and controlled" and that a scenario of the invasion is impossible.
After all, we have a powerful, modern army. These are facts, not just words, the president added.
On June 23, the Wagner PWC leader Yevgenii Prigozhin claimed that the Russian army had attacked the rear positions of the group, killing "a huge number of soldiers." In response, he announced a "march" to Rostov-on-Don to "deal with the lawlessness in the army" and Russia's defense minister Sergei Shoigu.
On June 24, his mercenaries seized military facilities in Rostov, including the headquarters of the Southern Military District and an airfield, and took control of military facilities in the city of Voronezh. The Wagner PMC convoy was also in the Lipetsk region. The Russian authorities were already preparing for the siege of Moscow.
Eventually, on the evening of June 24, self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that Prigozhin had agreed to stop the movement of mercenaries in Russia in a conversation with him.
The Kremlin said that the criminal case against the Wagner's founder would be dropped, and he would "go to Belarus." The authorities pledged not to prosecute the Wagner mercenaries for attempting to commit mutiny.
Russia's leader Vladimir Putin once again called Ukraine the real enemy and offered the Wagner members to continue to "serve Russia" by enlisting in Russian forces, resign and go home, or deploy in Belarus.
