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REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
Field camps were under construction in Belarus on Monday Wagner mercenaries fighting among Yevgeny Prigozhinwho had just been exiled to the country that followed him attempted mutiny in Russiasaid the independent Russian news outlet Verstka.
“We are working, we are already working today. Tomorrow, before lunch, the task is to (build),” a source told Vertska.
A relative of a Wagner fighter told the outlet they had been told they would be sent to Belarus. The camps being designed are reportedly preparing for 8,000 beds, will cover 24,000 square meters (258,334 square feet), and will be located about 200 kilometers from the Belarusian border with Ukraine.
In a recorded speech to the nation late Monday night in Russia, President Vladimir Putin affirmed that all Wagner fighters who do not “shed blood” could sign a contract to join the Russian army or go to Belarus.
Prigozhin has just been cheated by the untrustworthy Putin
Prigozhin commanded his troops march to Moscow Over the weekend, he threatened to remove Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu over Shoigu’s handling of the war in Ukraine. And although Prigozhin repulsed the uprising after negotiating with Putin and Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko to broker a deal that dropped criminal charges against Prigozhin and exiled him to Belarus, the fate of Prigozhin and his Wagner remains mercenary group uncertain.
The Daily Beast has been unable to verify reports of construction in Belarus. But word of new field camps comes days after the Kremlin hinted that Wagner could be disbanded ahead, and could provide some clues about the future of Prigozhin’s mercenaries.
Prigozhin had announced that he had recalled his troops to the field camps Ukraine, where they have been working to organize attacks against Ukrainians. However, it was not immediately clear whether all troops were on their way to Ukraine.
And with possible field camps in Belarus, Prigozhin could still run Wagner just days after they posed the biggest challenge to Putin’s decades-long hold on power in Russia.
Story continues
Belarus has been providing Russia with a stopping point for their war in Ukraine since last year’s Russian invasion. Lukashenkowhose leadership of Belarus has become a puppet of Putin in recent years Russia uses Belarusian territory.
It remains to be seen how much of a threat Wagner and Prigozhin, a former Putin ally, can pose to Putin’s grip on power. It is not clear whether possible Wagner camps in Belarus pose a threat to Russia.
Given the nature of Lukashenko’s relationship with Putin, it is unlikely that Lukashenko will sanction Prigozhin-led activities in Belarus without Putin’s knowledge and approval, Kenneth Yalowitz, a former US ambassador to Belarus, told The Daily Beast.
“Putin may have dictated the terms to Lukashanko. I kind of doubt that Lukashenko could have forced Putin to do all these things… without Putin’s consent,” Yalowitz said.
Why did Putin let Prigozhin run away?
Questions have already started to bubble up about whether Prigozhin will be able to organize attacks from Belarus; That is what Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland is stepping up defensive preparations on its borders with Belarus and “in anticipation of attacks”. It is also unclear whether Prigozhin will also be able to carry out attacks on Ukraine.
But with 25,000 Wagner troops, much of Prigozhin’s future is still at stake.
Prigozhin is a “wild card” at the moment, Yalowitz said, and could potentially pose a problem for Lukashenko as well.
“If they evacuated to Belarus, what is their purpose? I mean, you know, they can also threaten Lukashenko,’ he said. “In fact, for Lukashenko, you would almost be like Russian troops occupying Belarus, and that won’t go over well with his audience.”
Some Wagner troops could go to work for the Russian Defense Ministry. As part of the agreement that exiled Prigozhin, Wagner troops who did not support the uprising are offered contracts with the conventional Russian army.
It is a provision that echoes previous attempts by the Russian Defense Ministry to force Wagner fighters into the conventional army – efforts that Prigozhin himself had rejected and which could have contributed to his motivation for organizing the mutiny.
Meanwhile, there are indications that Putin is still trying to temper the power of Prigozhin and Wagner. According to Andrei Kartapolov, the head of the Duma’s Defense Committee, Russia is cracking down on private military companies (PMCs) like Wagner. Kartapolov said Monday he is working on drafting a bill that will regulate PMCs more.
But he predicted nothing would change before the fall, according to the state media outlet TASS.
authorities shut down Prigozhin’s social media page on Vkontakte, and according to TASS, several recruitment sites were also closed.
African officials panic after Prigozhin’s mutiny
For now, according to TASS, Wagner is recruiting in Novosibirsk. And a Wagner employee confirmed that the group is working to work normally, according to Fontanka SPB online.
“Everything remains unchanged for us,” said the staffer. “We are working as usual.”
Recruits are offered 240,000 rubles, or about $2,800, plus a bonus if they reach Ukraine, according to Fontanka SPB Online.
Meanwhile, although Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had dropped charges against Prigozhin for starting the mutiny, a criminal investigation is underway, TASS reported. The FSB continues its investigation into Prigozhin, according to Kommersant and other Russian media.
Signs emerged on Monday that Prigozhin may be trying to frame his mutiny as an act of defense rather than an uprising. In an audio recording, he claimed that he staged the uprising after an attack on his troops, to prevent Wagner from being eliminated.
“We started our march because of injustice,” he said, according to one AP translation.
The goal was “not to overthrow the Russian authorities,” he said War translated project.
And while the Kremlin said Prigozhin’s personal safety is a “guarantee” of Putin’s, Prigozhin is not necessarily safe from Putin’s advancing assassins.
“There are just questions everywhere. Is Prigozhin a man who will be hunted in Belarus? said Yalowitz. “With 10,000 troops at his disposal, he won’t be an easy target to take down.”
Prigozhin is unlikely to run into trouble for Lukashenko at this stage, Yalowitz predicted.
“Would he be loyal to Lukashanko? No. He won’t be loyal. He will be true to himself,” he said.
Prigozhin’s whereabouts were uncertain on Monday. He was seen leaving Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia on Saturday after announcing he would call off the uprising. On Monday, unconfirmed reports circulated that he had been spotted Minskthe Belarusian capital.
Lukashenko’s press service said on Monday it did not know if Prigozhin arrived in Belarus.
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