{"id":45159,"date":"2020-08-01T16:21:53","date_gmt":"2020-08-01T14:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/?p=45159"},"modified":"2025-06-30T13:42:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T11:42:37","slug":"by-2020-08-01-what-did-the-wagner-group-actually-do-in-belarus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/el\/by-2020-08-01-what-did-the-wagner-group-actually-do-in-belarus\/","title":{"rendered":"BY 2020.08.01 The Wagner group in Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/AP23027572308689-1692819377.jpg?fit=1170%2C822&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is the Wagner Group<\/strong>?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What to know about the Russian private military company,<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oAOQwhadb-4?si=gXxVE6dzENn_aoqZ\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><strong>Militants detained in Minsk: who are they and why did they come to Belarus?<\/strong><br><strong>The\u00a0National State TV and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><strong>9 facts. What did the Wagner group actually do in Belarus?<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fact 1.<\/strong>\u00a0According to\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/ua\/u-bilorusi-zatrymaly-hrupu-gru\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">media reports<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0a group of up to 200 people entered Belarus. This is exactly one full rotation \u2013 one infantry company, reinforced by sniper groups and, for urban operations, visual observation and reconnaissance squads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fact 2.<\/strong>\u00a0So far, only 32 people living in a single location and one separate person have been detained. This is close to the typical size of a platoon. There was at least one sniper group commander (<a href=\"https:\/\/myrotvorets.center\/criminal\/bakunovich-andrej-petrovich\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Andrey Bakunovich<\/strong><\/a>) among the detainees, which also confirms this conclusion. It is likely that one sniper group is attached to each of its 4 platoons, with at least 12 snipers in total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fact 3.<\/strong>\u00a0The group entered the territory of Belarus a few weeks before the start of electoral activities in Minsk. This is similar to how, at the end of February 2014, members of the Wagner group, 5-15 people at a time, entered the Autonomous Republic of Crimea through the Kavkaz-Kerch ferry crossing and quietly checked in in the same groups into local hotels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fact 4.<\/strong>\u00a0Russian diplomats and media are claiming that the mercenaries were using Belarus as a transit point. However, units of the Wagner group never used regular flights to get to the countries of the Middle East and Africa, even before the COVID-19 quarantines, when all Russian airports were fully functional. All flights were carried out by the 223rd Flight Squadron of the Russian Ministry of Defense or special charters without passing the border control in Russia. This was documented and proven by the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sbu.gov.ua\/ua\/news\/1\/category\/304\/view\/5625\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Ukrainian special agencies<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Image 1: <a href=\"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/07\/1234-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/07\/1234-1.jpg<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Image 2: <a href=\"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/07\/3456.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/07\/3456.jpg<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fact 5.<\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sbu.gov.ua\/ua\/news\/1\/category\/304\/view\/5632\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Ukrainian SBU reports<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0also contain evidence that it was the Wagner group that participated in the suppression of democratic protests in Sudan (operation in an urban setting). The lists of those mercenaries who were there have been published. Among those Wagner troops who were detained in Minsk, at least two (<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/myrotvorets.center\/criminal\/volgin-aleksej-vladimirovich\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Aleksey Volgin<\/a>\u00a0\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myrotvorets.center\/criminal\/li-vladimir-aleksandrovich\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Vladimir Li<\/a><\/strong>) were in Sudan during the suppression of the protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fact 6.<\/strong>\u00a0In the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oAOQwhadb-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>video of the arrest<\/strong><\/a>, we can see not only a sheet with inscriptions in Arabic but also a top-up card of a Sudanese telecom operator\u2019s mobile phone. It depicts the Khatmiyah Mosque in the city of Kassala (Sudan). It is very difficult to buy top-up cards from Sudanese mobile operators in Russia or Belarus and then fly to Sudan with them. This can only mean one thing: they didn\u2019t arrive in Belarus to fly to a country like Sudan, but, on the contrary, they had come back from Sudan (Volgin and Li could still have papers in Arabic and Sudanese top-up cards left in their bags after a recent trip there).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fact 7.<\/strong>&nbsp;For the last 6 years, Ukrainian special agencies have been closely cooperating with the intelligence community of NATO member states. Obviously, every NATO country (including Turkey, which is especially interested in Russian mercenaries because they kill its soldiers in Libya) has complete lists of members of the Wagner group, most definitely of people like Volgin, whose names are already listed on the official website of the SBU. This makes the theory that the Russian mercenaries were planning to fly to Turkey absolutely implausible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fact 8.<\/strong>\u00a0The detainees had personal army tokens with personal numbers, exactly the same M series used by the Wagner group.\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ihtamnet.m0209\/?__tn__=kC-R&amp;eid=ARAKHJnW6AaYaxKuVcaZ2cOTxxoe0kEPFBA7LxgJtLwgQFcKF8q8ps0DBaKFftf6qH9D2NDfMX8OiMl6&amp;hc_ref=ARQtMbx-WMdrra7J8pY2obC04ylEXbsD47KYpwYxHwVZJpPBrDA2Gp8AdtdutCf9GJU&amp;fref=nf&amp;__xts__0=68.ARDnqKpIrpgq0mD9WCFLILpGuXG1bbJxI6Cd4qtKiS-Ea-2RXBj99WISIA-bHz93-MTuT9yIgp10bVwW4s4owR4elQjyRlYZKiD2Vw4exMTgUP4bGfSAVOMYFqX8s7chuU26-HIVks5pNoGqXwpQgA9C8Iy4Zn4LtIwf_b8BUXseO8M325SLPyp3bp3loa8WjO48a9UBRRgdzng4aq3tCx8Ao6F4yLab2oYdPEcyDQJ5yrXrQNJXnEd7ycNiJEFvYqn69Z92bZcsiC-fdBQbUMf6ljSY-EMSIOQ_saiORaJgdg5KaADrnO9scrP1iMurTDNOwJIARSPLBueVq2OgHbo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u0418\u0445\u0442\u0430\u043c\u043d\u0435\u0442_\u043c0209<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/watch\/?v=423641501938402\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote about it<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in more detail earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fact 9.<\/strong>&nbsp;All Telegram channels and \u201copposition experts\u201d controlled by Russian special services, propaganda channels (RT), and other controlled media, including the ones based in Ukraine (Strana.ua), as well as officials (the Russian ambassador in the Republic of Belarus), in their characteristic hysterical manner, began started making false statements and pushing fake claims trying to vindicate the detained Russian citizens, saying that they are airsoft players or just simple guards who had plans to fly through Turkey legally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><strong>Conclusions:<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Belarusian special services, possibly with the assistance of its Western colleagues, have captured one of several groups employed by Russian military intelligence, which likely planned to provoke violence during the expected electoral protests, including the use of sniper fire on civilians (similar to the events in Kyiv in February 2014). These plans were drawn up in Russia and aimed to destabilize the situation in Belarus to the point where Putin would have sufficient grounds to deploy \u201cpeacemaker\u201d troops to \u201cbring order\u201d, but, in reality, to annex Belarus. The significant public outcry will possibly force Russia to cancel these plans and recall the remaining members of the group. However, if Putin decides to go all in, other scenarios to destabilize the country remain possible.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Translated by Andrii Gryganskyi. Edited by Max Alginin. Distribution and reprint with reference to the source are welcome!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Sources:\u00a0<\/strong><br><strong>2020.08.01<\/strong> <br><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/9-facts-what-did-the-wagner-group-actually-do-in-belarus\/?fbclid=IwAR33e2hd44cxdgls28L2sPBTuErIlw3oob6-3spv9VaGvgcRRXEQpDrno2w\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/9-facts-what-did-the-wagner-group-actually-do-in-belarus\/?fbclid=IwAR33e2hd44cxdgls28L2sPBTuErIlw3oob6-3spv9VaGvgcRRXEQpDrno2w<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><br><br><strong>2023.06.27 <\/strong><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/wagner-group-who-is-yevgeny-prigozhin-russia-mercenary-private-military-company\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/wagner-group-who-is-yevgeny-prigozhin-russia-mercenary-private-military-company\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the Wagner Group? Who is Yevgeny Prigozhin? What to know about the Russian private military company, Militants detained in Minsk: who are they and why did they come to Belarus?The\u00a0National State TV and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus 9 facts. What did the Wagner group actually do in Belarus? Fact 1.\u00a0According [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionagainstchildabduction.com\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}