Belarus building army camp for Wagner fighters? What satellite images, reports suggest

Satellite images analysed by the Associated Press on Saturday showed what appeared to be a newly built military-style camp in Belarus, with statements from a Belarusian guerrilla group and officials suggesting it may be used to house fighters from the Wagner mercenary group.

The images provided by Planet Labs PLC suggest that dozens of tents have been erected within the past two weeks at a former military base outside Osipovichi, a town 230 kilometers (142 miles) north of the Ukrainian border. A satellite photo taken on Jun. 15 shows no sign of the rows of white and green structures that are clearly visible in a later image, dated Jun. 30.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his fighters escaped prosecution and were offered refuge in Belarus last week after Minsk helped broker a deal to end what appeared to be an armed insurrection by the mercenary group.

The abortive revolt saw Wagner troops capture a military headquarters in southern Russia and march hundreds of kilometers (miles) towards Moscow, seemingly unimpeded.

Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country, a close and dependent ally of Moscow, could use Wagner's experience and expertise, and announced that he had offered the fighters an “abandoned military unit” to set up camp.

Aliaksandr Azarau, leader of the anti-Lukashenko BYPOL guerrilla group of former military members, told the Associated Press by phone on Thursday that construction of a site for Wagner mercenaries was underway near Osipovichi.