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Lukashenko shrugs off Warsaw’s concerns about Wagner fighters’ movement around Belarus

According to the Belarusian leader, the Wagner fighters who relocated to Belarus remain in a camp near the city of Osipovichi

MINSK, August 1. /TASS/. Warsaw’s concerns about Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) fighters being in Belarus are unfounded, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.

"Poland is beside itself, alleging that a detachment of as many as 100 members is coming here. Meanwhile, no Wagner detachments of 100 members moved here. And even if they did, their only goal was to share their combat experience with the brigades stationed in Brest and Grodno. I need to train my service members because an army that does not fight is half an army," Lukashenko said at a meeting with residents of the Belovezhsky farming town in the Brest Region.

According to him, the Wagner fighters who relocated to Belarus remain in a camp near the city of Osipovichi.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry announced earlier that members of Belarusian special operations forces had performed combat training missions together with fighters from Wagner PMC at the Brestsky training ground near the Polish border. Before that, the ministry said that Wagner fighters had taken part in the training of Belarusian territorial forces near Osipovichi.

The Polish authorities decided to strengthen the border with Belarus following the arrival of Wagner fighters in the neighboring country. It was also announced that Poland, Lithuania and Latvia were determined to fully isolate Belarus if serious incidents involving the Wagner PMC occurred on the borders of EU and NATO countries.