WAGNER IS TRUMP CARD UP RUSSIAS SLEEVE

Amid the failures of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, and the growing risks of escalation and the entry of new belligerents into the war, Moscow has made it clear that Russia and its allies also have trump cards up their sleeves. After the attempted mutiny in Russia, thousands of Wagner fighters left for Belarus. The military base of the PMC is located near the village of Tsel, where Prigozhin registered the company “Concord Management and Consulting”. Now the Wagner PMC continues active cooperation with the Armed Forces of Belarus. Recently, Wagner fighters shared their combat experience with the servicemen of the 38th separate airborne assault Brigade of the Special Operations Forces of Belarus. The brigade is stationed in Brest located on the border with Poland. During his recent talks with his Russian counterpart, Lukashenko jokingly claimed that Wagner fighters asked to send them on an excursion to the West, to Warsaw, to Rzeszow. There is an airfield near Rzeszow, which turned into a large NATO hub for the transfer of weapons to Ukraine. In fact, Lukashenko revealed the main purpose of the transfer of the PMC to Belarus and designated casus belli. Wagner’s tasks include not only the training of the Belarusian military, but also the creation of a strike force to counter NATO countries wishing to support Kiev on the battlefield. According to Lukashenko, one of the Polish brigades is already deployed 40 km from Brest, the other is about 100 km from Grodno. In early July, the Polish armed forces’ General Command informed about the decision to transfer 1,000 servicemen and almost 200 units of equipment from the 12th and 17th mechanized brigades to the eastern part of Poland. The US ambassador to Poland announced the Polish-American aviation exercises are to be held near Warsaw next month. The Polish Defense Ministry also announced the deployment of a new sapper battalion in the city of Augustow in the Suwalki corridor. This 100-kilometer corridor located between Belarus and the Russian Kaliningrad region is considered the most vulnerable place on NATO’s eastern flank. Poland is increasing its military presence there, as it fears that Lithuania could be cut off in the case of hostilities. Putin warned that the Polish leadership expects to create some kind of coalition and intervene in the conflict in Ukraine under the protection of NATO. The true goal is to regain, as they believe, their historical territories in Western Ukraine. “It is well known that they also dream of Belarusian lands,” he claimed, threatening that “unleashing aggression against Belarus will mean aggression” against Russia.