OSIPOVICHI /Mogilev Region/, July 7. /TASS/. Representatives from the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) have not yet arrived to inspect the campgrounds near the city of Osipovichi in Belarus’ Mogilev Region as a potential stationing location for its members, Belarusian Deputy Defense Minister Leonid Kasinsky told journalists.

"No, operations teams have not yet arrived to check it out and make up their mind. I think that when the Wagner group makes a final decision on its deployment in Belarus, then they will take a look," the military official said, commenting on the purported deployment of Wagner fighters in Belarus.

Kasinsky explained that "this is a training camp built in coordination with local authorities." "This camp was used to train both the military and representatives from the civilian administration within the framework of developing the territorial defense system," he added.

Earlier, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting with representatives of foreign and Belarusian media outlets said that Minsk had offered "some mothballed military bases that were used back in Soviet times" to house the Wagner group, including the one near Osipovichi. The Belarusian leader noted that the Wagner leadership "had differing visions about where they will be stationed," although he had already pointed out to them that one "must stay in civilized conditions, especially in Belarus." Lukashenko also said that currently, the issue of redeploying the Wagner fighters from Russia to Belarus had not yet been resolved because "it depends on the Russian leadership."

On the evening of June 23, several audio recordings were posted on Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Telegram channel. In particular, he claimed that his units had come under attack, blaming the Russian military. The Russian Defense Ministry slammed the Wagner boss’ allegations of a military strike on the PMC’s "rear camps" as fake news. The PMC units supporting Prigozhin occupied Rostov-on-Don and then headed toward Moscow. The FSB opened a criminal case concerning calls for armed mutiny. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a televised address to the nation on June 24, described the Wagner group’s actions as an armed mutiny and a betrayal.

Later, Lukashenko, in coordination with Putin, held talks with Prigozhin, resulting in Wagner standing down, turning its units around, and retreating to their base camps. The Kremlin said that the Russian authorities pledged not to prosecute those Wagner PMC fighters who took part in the mutiny in light of their "frontline achievements," while Prigozhin "will go to Belarus." The criminal case on armed mutiny was dropped, the FSB said.