Number of Wagner fighters in Belarus reaches 5,000

About 5,000 Wagner mercenaries arrived in Belarus, according to Ukraine's State Border Guard Service spokesman Andrii Demchenko.  

He said that the border with Belarus is secure and is being monitored for additional risks. Their presence there does not present an immediate threat to Ukraine.  

Demchenko said the number of Wagner men in Belarus was initially in the hundreds, but mercenaries kept arriving.  Nine Wagner columns arrived to Belarus so far, after Yevgeniy Prigozhin's abortive mutiny against the Kremlin.  

Prigozhin reportedly told his mercenaries that he will train the Belarusian army.

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Prigozhin launched a "march for justice" against Russian military leaders on June 23 after the Russian army allegedly targeted Wagner troops in Ukraine. His mercenaries occupied Rostov and marched 200 kilometers to Moscow, only to abruptly end the rebellion less than 24 hours after its start.

As a result of an undisclosed agreement between Wagner's leader and the Kremlin, Prigozhin and his contractors were allowed to leave for Belarus to avoid persecution.

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claimed on June 27 that Prigozhin had arrived in the country.