Wagner mercenaries are in Belarus and training the country’s soldiers

The whereabouts of the group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is unknown but the Belarusian Defence Ministry releases footage of some of his forces acting as instructors

Wagner mercenaries have arrived in Belarus and are instructing the country’s troops, the Belarusian defence ministry has said.

“Wagner fighters acted as instructors in a number of military disciplines,” the Belarusian defence ministry’s television channel said. The ministry also released a video showing what it said were Wagner fighters instructing Belarusian soldiers at a military range near the town of Osipovichi, around 55 miles southeast of the capital Minsk.

Some Wagner fighters have been in Belarus since at least Tuesday, two sources close to the fighters told Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

The relocation was part of a deal to end a mutiny led by Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, which had threatened to tip Russia into civil war. Twenty-four hours after the uprising started, after the group's forces had marched to 125 miles from Moscow, Mr Prigozhin stood down his mercenaries and agreed to move to Belarus in exchange for Russia dropping mutiny charges. The deal also included an offer for some of Mr Prigozhin's forces to join him.

Yet until now, there has been no sign of Wagner fighters in Belarus and Mr Prigozhin has not been seen in public since he left the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don late on 24 June, though a private jet linked to him has moved between Belarus, Moscow and St Petersburg.

When Reuters visited a tent camp near Osipovichi last week as part of a trip organised by Belarus, there was no sign of Wagner fighters there. A picture of Mr Prigozhin in a tent appeared on a Wagner-linked Telegram channel on Friday, with some speculation that it may have been taken in Belarus this week. That is unconfirmed, as there was confusion over the date connected to the image.

In the video released by Belarusian authorities, at least one of the fighters identified as Wagner mercenaries had a Matryoshka doll symbol on his helmet which is used by some of Mr Prigozhin's forces.

Wagner helped Russia annex Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 – territory that Kyiv says it is seeking to reclaim as it fights Russia’s current invasion. Wagner was involved in the fierce fighting around the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine in recent months. Elsewhere, Wagner forces have also fought Isis militants in Syria and operated in Central African Republic and Mali.

Mr Putin is also said to have offered Wagner mercenaries the opportunity to keep fighting at a meeting just days after their failed mutiny, but the Russian president suggested Mr Prigozhin be moved aside in favour of a different commander, the Russian Kommersant newspaper reported.

The Kremlin said on Monday that Mr Putin had held talks with Wagner commanders and Mr Prigozhin at a meeting on 29 June, five days after the mutiny. The mercenaries, the Kremlin claimed, reaffirmed their loyalty to Mr Putin.

But Kommersant's report suggested the future of Mr Prigozhin and Wagner was in doubt. “Wagner does not exist,” Mr Putin told the newspaper, when asked if it would be preserved as a fighting unit. “There is no law on private military organisations. It just doesn't exist.”

Asked about Mr Putin’s remark, the Kremlin said on Friday that there was no legal entity named Wagner and the legal status of such companies was a complicated one which needed consideration. That was long the stance of Mr Putin and the Kremlin, which gave deniability about Wagner's actions. But in the wake of the aborted mutiny, Mr Putin admitted that the group was funded by the state – saying that wages for the group’s fighters had come out of state coffers.

He also related details about the 29 June meeting to Kommersant, saying he had suggested several options for them to continue fighting, including that a senior Wagner figure known by his nom de guerre “Sedoi” – or "grey hair" – take over command.

“Sedoi” is the nom de guerre of Andrei Troshev, a senior Wagner commander, according to European Union sanctions documents, French official documents, sources with knowledge of the matter and Russian media reports. A highly decorated veteran of Russia’s wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya, Mr Troshev is from St Petersburg, Mr Putin’s hometown, and has been pictured with the president.

“All of them could have gathered in one place and continued to serve,” Kommersant quoted Mr Putin as saying. “And nothing would have changed for them. They would have been led by the same person who had been their real commander all that time.”

Mr Putin said that many of the commanders had nodded their head at his suggestion but Mr Prigozhin, who was sitting at the front, did not see this, Kommersant said.

“‘No, the boys won’t agree with such a decision’,” Mr Putin quoted Mr Prigozhin as saying. The remarks do not appear in an official Kremlin transcript of comments Mr Putin made to the newspaper and a state television reporter on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, the Pentagon said that the US believed that Wagner mercenaries are now not participating in military operations in Ukraine “in any significant capacity”.

According to the Pentagon's assessment, the majority of Wagner forces are still in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, defence department press secretary, Brigadier General Pat Ryder, said, but “really effectively are no longer contributing as a significant combat capability”.

US president Joe Biden said on Thursday that the United States was unsure where Mr Prigozhin was but joked that the mercenary chief could be poisoned.

“If I were he, I’d be careful what I ate. I’d be keeping my eye on my menu,” Mr Biden said, according to a White House transcript. “But all kidding aside, I don’t think any of us know for sure what the future of Prigozhin is in Russia.”

Reuters