Wagner: Satellite imagery shows activity at a military base in Belarus – the ground forces

Satellite images show activity at an abandoned military base in Belarus, amid speculation that Wagner forces have been transferred to the country.

A June 27 image obtained by BBC Verify and first reported by Radio Free Europe shows what may be tents or similar structures looming over the base.

An earlier photo taken on June 19 shows the fields inside the military compound nearly empty.

The Wagner group, made up of mercenaries, had been fighting for Russia in Ukraine until last weekend, when they started an insurrection.

Its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, later called off an advance to Moscow after striking a deal with the help of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

After the failed rebellion, Russian officials said that Wagner would be disarmed, but that its members would escape prosecution. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that soldiers can join the Russian army, return home, or go to Belarus.

The base shown in the satellite imagery is located about 21 km from the city of Osipovichi – about 64 miles from the capital, Minsk. The area has been reported in the Russian media as a place that could house Wagner fighters.

Lukashenko offered to absorb the Wagner militants in his country, where Prigozhin is believed to have gone into exile.

The Belarusian leader also mentioned an abandoned military base, but did not specify the location, saying: “There is a fence, everything is available, pitch your tents.”

Since then there has been speculation about a site near Asipovichy that housed the Belarusian 465th Missile Brigade before they moved in 2018.

The image taken on June 27 is low-resolution, so saying exactly what was built is difficult, but there has clearly been development since mid-June.

You can see several rows of rectangular structures that look consistent with the tents seen on other military bases in the area.

It is not clear who was responsible for the construction of these structures.

Ukrainian military expert Oleg Zhdanov told Radio Free Europe that it was “unrealistic” for Wagner’s forces to start building camp with so little time since the mutiny.

But Marina Miron, a researcher specializing in the Russian military at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, said it is possible.

“he [Wagner] It’s not like an army where everything is slow… If they can get halfway to Moscow in one day, it’s reasonable to think that they’ve already started building camps in Belarus,” she said.

source: BBC