Wagner mercenaries to share experience with Belarusian military, says defense ministry
The Wagner mercenaries who have arrived in Belarus will share their combat experience with the Belarusian military, Belarusian news agency BelTA reported on July 11, with reference to the country’s defense ministry.
“The Belarusian military training grounds are getting ready to welcome another batch (of Wagner fighters) for the joint training of the Belarusian and Russian military personnel,” the agency said.
After the arrival of Wagner mercenaries, their dispersion at training grounds for “mutual exchange of experience,” “special attention” will be paid to “techniques and ways of conducting combat operations” by the Belarusian army, the ministry added.
Wagner is infamous for murdering its own soldiers with a sledgehammer blow to the head if they are suspected of disloyalty, and its “meat assault” tactic of sending infantry towards Ukrainian lines in wave in order to reveal firing positions, during which most of the troops in the wave are usually killed.
Wagner mercenaries in Belarus: What we know
Wagner mercenary company chief Yevgeny Prigozhin announced the beginning of an armed conflict with the Russian Defense Ministry on the evening of June 23, claiming that about 25,000 of his fighters were going to “restore justice” in Russia.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko held talks with Prigozhin as his mercenaries closed in on Moscow, Lukashenko’s press office later claimed, culminating in a deal where Prigozhin agreed to halt his forces’ advance on the Russian capital — in exchange for dropping charges against him and his fighters, and changes in leadership at the Russian Ministry of Defense.
In a video address on June 26, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin offered three options to the fighters of the Wagner mercenary company who had participated in the mutiny attempt — return to civilian life, sign contracts with the regular Russian military, or relocate to Belarus.
Satellite images of a possible Wagner mercenary field camp in Belarus were released on June 27.
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