Border Guards: Wagner being used to aggravate tense border situation, do not present threat to Ukraine

Belarus is using Wagner forces to threaten and de-stabilize an already-tense situation but do not present a military threat to Ukraine, Border Guard Service spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said on Ukrainian television on July 28.    

According to Demchenko, though the Belarusian border is secure, Ukrainian intelligence is continuing to monitor the mercenaries for unusual activity.

The comments came as the 13th convoy of Wagner mercenaries arrived in Belarus, consisting of more than 80 vehicles, according to Belarusian monitoring group Belarusian Hayun.  

The vehicles include armored vehicles, fuel trucks, passenger buses, cargo trucks, pickups and passenger vehicles, among others.  The convoy also included a gray bus with the red and green crest of Lukashenko's Belarus.    

Over 5,000 Wagner mercenaries are believed to currently be in Belarus, transferring there after their short-lived mutiny against the Russian military in June.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko claimed that Wagner fighters are clamoring to attack Poland, a NATO member.

Poland to double the size of military in response to security threat

The size of the Polish military is being nearly doubled in response to the threat posed by Russia and Belarus, Polish deputy prime minister Yaroslav Kaczynski said during a visit to the town of Koden near the Belarusian border on July 27.

The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk