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Lukashenko’s apparent quip on Wagner wanting to go on a so-called excursion to Poland has led to security concerns for entire Europe. (Image: Reuters)
Poland and its allies like Lithuania are afraid that Wagner may be used to escalate the war by dragging Warsaw and Vilnius into a war.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has said that he is finding it extremely difficult to contain Wagner mercenaries from attacking Poland. During a recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia’s St. Petersburg, Lukashenko quipped that Wagner forces in Belarus want to go on an “excursion” to Warsaw.
“The Wagnerites are beginning to stretch us. I ask: ‘Why do you need to go to the West?” Lukashenko said. “We want to go on an excursion to Warsaw, to Rzeszow (they say),” he further added.
Lukashenko then showed Putin a map charting Poland’s plan to attack Belarus. Putin earlier this week said that an attack on Belarus is akin to an attack on Russia.
“As we can see, the ground is being prepared,” Lukashenko said. More mercenaries from the Wagner Group entered Belarus earlier this Monday, marking their biggest exodus from Russia since their failed rebellion against Vladimir Putin.
These Wagner forces are in a camp close to Osipovichi. Osipovichi is 230 kilometres north of the Ukrainian border and over 3,450 and 3,650 soldiers have travelled to that camp, according to a report by Firstpost and Belaruski Hajun.
“Wagner fighters who have really been in the heat of combat are passing on valuable information and experience to our servicemen,” the Belarusian Defense Ministry said in a statement as Lukashenko welcomed them into the country.
Poland is sending over 500 cops to the Poland-Belarus border in order to take care of the situation in the region. Over 5,000 border guards and 2,000 soldiers are already present there and have kept a tight vigil on the frontiers.
These police officers are members of preventive and counter-terrorism units, Polish minister Mariusz Kaminski said. Stanislaw Zaryn, another Polish minister, said that it is a matter of “analysis and hypotheses” whether the Wagner Group will take steps to destabilise Poland.
Kaminski highlighted that Wagnerites are not in Belarus to recuperate but to “carry out a mission”. “This mission could be aimed at Poland, but also against Lithuania or Ukraine,” Kaminski said.
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