Warsaw [Poland]: Poland detained two Russian citizens who were distributing propaganda materials of the Wagner Group in Warsaw and Krakow, the country’s interior minister Mariusz Kamiński said on Monday.
“The ABW, in cooperation with the Police, identified and detained two Russians who were distributing propaganda materials of the Wagner Group in Krakow and Warsaw. Both heard allegations regarding i.a. espionage, and they were arrested. More information coming soon,” Kamiński tweeted.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) ally Poland’s tension with Russia and Belarus has intensified since a number of Wagner fighters were stationed in Belarus following the fallout from Yevgeny Prigozhin’s aborted mutiny in June.
Recently, Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said that the country is planning to move nearly 10,000 troops to the border with Belarus, CNN reported. In an interview with the Polish National Radio, the Polish Defence Minister said that around 10,000 soldiers will be on the border, where 4,000 will directly support the border guard, and the remaining 6,000 will be in reserve.
“The violation of Polish space by Belarusian helicopters cannot be underestimated because of the Belarusian approach,” Blaszczak said on the radio, adding it was another provocation. “Everything that is happening in Belarus is coordinated with the actions of Russia,” CNN quoted Blaszczak as saying.
Last month, Belarus’ Defense Ministry announced that its forces will hold joint military exercises with Wagner fighters near the border with Poland, a NATO member. Poland Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, on July 29, claimed that over 100 troops from the Russian mercenary group Wagner are moving towards a thin strip of land between Poland and Lithuania. The Poland PM said that his government had received information that Wagner mercenaries went near the Grodno, a city in western Belarus close to the land, which is also known as the Suwalki gap or corridor, according to CNN.
Thousands of Wagner troops are reportedly in Belarus following a failed military uprising in Russia. Morawiecki alleged that Belarus, a key ally to Russia, has been sending migrants westward in an attempt to overwhelm Polish border forces. And till now, this year, around 16,000 attempts were made by migrants to cross the border illegally, he added.
The troop movements, Morawiecki added, appeared to be another element in this campaign to destabilize the border, according to CNN.
“They will probably be disguised as Belarusian border guards and will help illegal immigrants to enter Polish territory, destabilize Poland, but they will also probably try to infiltrate Poland pretending to be illegal immigrants and this creates additional risks,” he said, according to CNN.