The prime minister of Poland claims that more than 100 members of the Russian mercenary group Wagner are marching towards a narrow strip of land separating Poland from Lithuania and has issued a warning that they may attempt to enter the border by pretending to be migrants.
Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister of Poland, stated on Saturday that his country had learned that the Wagner mercenaries were not far from Grodno, a city in western Belarus close to the Suwalki gap or corridor.
Following a failed military rebellion in Russia, thousands of Wagner soldiers are reportedly in Belarus.
Morawiecki reiterated claims that Belarus, a significant supporter of Russia, has been directing migrants towards the west in an effort to overwhelm Polish border guards.
According to Morawiecki, the troop moves appeared to be another component of this attempt to weaken the border.
In addition to helping illegal immigrants enter Polish territory and destabilising Poland, he predicted that they would likely pose additional hazards by trying to infiltrate Poland under the garb of illegal immigration.
According to Morawiecki, there have been over 16,000 attempts by migrants to cross the border illegally so far this year after being “pushed to Poland” by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Wagner has not responded to the reports, so it is unclear exactly what his forces are doing in Grodno. However, the stationing of Russian allies close to the Suwalki corridor would be an escalation that would alarmed NATO and EU members.
Despite being only 60 miles long, the corridor is crucial from a strategic perspective for NATO, the EU, Russia, and Belarus. The border region is the only overland connection between the Baltic states and the rest of the EU and links the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to Belarus.
In the early stages of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, analysts worried that Moscow would strike the Suwalki corridor in an effort to defend Kaliningrad, its westernmost province and the only region of the nation that is encircled by EU nations.
The precise number of Wagner forces in Belarus is unknown. As part of an agreement made by the president of Belarus to put an end to the mercenary group’s violent uprising against the Kremlin last month, they were invited to the nation.
Wagner was then requested by Lukashenko to assist with military training. The two intend to conduct combined military drills close to Poland’s border, which is likely to exacerbate existing tensions.
At a conference, Lukashenko made fun of Russian President Putin by saying that the Wagner fighters had started to worry him because they wanted to go on “an excursion” in the west.
Despite claiming that its borders are secure, Poland has shifted its troops east because of potential Wagnerian threats.