The agreement on the location of Wagner PMC mercenaries in Belarus between the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin ceased to operate. This is stated in the report of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
The withdrawal of the Wagnerites from Belarus indicates that aspects of the agreement between Putin and Prigozhin after the armed uprising of the Wagnerites fell apart. A Russian insider source claims that Wagner PMC began the first stage of the withdrawal of militants from Belarus, ISW notes. Mercenaries are transported by buses of 500-600 people from the Republic of Belarus to the Krasnodar Krai, Voronezh and Rostov regions, and the second stage will begin after August 13.
“Wagner-affiliated sources claimed that the main Wagner forces will “activate” at the end of August but did not elaborate on the statement. Claims that Wagner forces are moving out of Belarus — a relatively safe haven for Wagner and Prigozhin — back to Russia, Wagner command’s mentions of new orders, and claims of the future “activation” of Wagner forces at the end of August likely suggest that aspects of the deal that allowed Wagner to move to Belarus and continue operations there and in Africa have collapsed,” the statement reads.
The insider source and a Wagner-affiliated source speculated that Wagner forces may be leaving Belarus because Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko refused to finance Wagner when he discovered that Russia would not be paying for Wagner as he had evidently expected, the ISW suggests. Putin and Lukashenko allowed Wagner forces and Prigozhin to continue to operate in Belarus after the armed rebellion, but the insider source claimed on August 6 that Wagner forces that did not deploy to Libya “urgently” went on leave in Russia, and that Wagner's command called on their fighters to keep in touch because new orders could come at any time, the Institute emphasizes.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on August 1, the 14th column of Wagnerites arrived on the territory of Belarus.
Recall, on July 29, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that individual units of the Wagner PMC were transferred to the west of Belarus to the so-called Suwalki Corridor, a section connecting Poland and the Baltic countries.
On July 24, the ISW said that the Wagner PMC forces located on the territory of the Republic of Belarus do not pose a threat to Poland or Ukraine.
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