Poland will reinforce its border with Belarus with 500 policemen and counterterrorism forces due to the tense situation in the area, Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński reported on July 2.
In response to the announcement that the Wagner Group mercenaries will move to Belarus, Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania called for reinforcement of NATO's eastern flank.
The Wagner Group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin launched an armed rebellion against Russian military leadership on June 23. During a day-long rebellion, the mercenaries seized the Southern Military District headquarters in the city of Rostov and marched toward Moscow.
As a result of an undisclosed agreement between Wagner's founder and the Kremlin, reportedly brokered by Belorussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, warlord Prigozhin and his mercenaries were allowed to move to Belarus to avoid persecution.
Russian outlet Verstka, citing its sources in Belarus, reported a military camp for 8,000 Wagner troops under construction at Asipovichy, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Ukraine's border.
Now 5,000 Polish Border Guard servicemen and 2,000 soldiers are protecting the 400-kilometer-long (250 miles) Poland-Belarus border, Kamiński tweeted on July 2.
On July 1, Poland’s Border Guard Service reported that 187 migrants attempted illegal crossing from Belarus into Poland.
Anastasiia Lapatina
(Updated: )
