Wagner Mercenaries and Belarus Hold Military Exercises Near Poland’s Border 

This handout picture posted on July 20, 2023 on the Telegram channel of the Belarusian Defense Ministry shows what is said a joint training of PMC Wagner fighters with Belarusian special forces servicemen at the Brestsky military ground. (Handout / TELEGRAM / @modmilby / AFP)
This handout picture posted on July 20, 2023 on the Telegram channel of the Belarusian Defense Ministry shows what is said a joint training of PMC Wagner fighters with Belarusian special forces servicemen at the Brestsky military ground. (Handout / TELEGRAM / @modmilby / AFP)
TT
20

Wagner Mercenaries and Belarus Hold Military Exercises Near Poland’s Border 

This handout picture posted on July 20, 2023 on the Telegram channel of the Belarusian Defense Ministry shows what is said a joint training of PMC Wagner fighters with Belarusian special forces servicemen at the Brestsky military ground. (Handout / TELEGRAM / @modmilby / AFP)
This handout picture posted on July 20, 2023 on the Telegram channel of the Belarusian Defense Ministry shows what is said a joint training of PMC Wagner fighters with Belarusian special forces servicemen at the Brestsky military ground. (Handout / TELEGRAM / @modmilby / AFP)

Mercenaries from Russia's Wagner Group will help train Belarusian special forces during exercises at a military range near the border with NATO-member Poland, the Belarusian defense ministry said on Thursday.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now but ordering them to gather their strength for Africa while they trained the Belarusian army.

"The armed forces of Belarus continue joint training with the fighters of the Wagner PMC (Private Military Company)," the Belarusian defense ministry said.

"During the week, special operations forces units together with representatives of the Company will work out combat training tasks at the Brest military range."

Poland said earlier this month it would send 500 police to shore up security at its border with Belarus to cope with rising numbers of migrants crossing as well as any potential threats after Wagner mercenaries relocated to Belarus.

Wagner's failed June 23-24 mutiny has been interpreted by the West as a challenge to President Vladimir Putin's rule that illustrates the weakness of the 70-year-old Kremlin chief and the strain of the Ukraine war on the Russian state.

The Kremlin rejects that interpretation and says the Russian people have rallied around Putin and the military.

Mercenary plans

A deal was struck on June 24 under which the mercenaries would move to Belarus in return for charges against them being dropped. Putin said the fighters could either leave for Belarus, come under the command of the defense ministry or go back to their families.

Wagner has lost 22,000 of its men in the Ukraine war while 40,000 have been wounded and up to 10,000 fighters will end up in Belarus, according to a post by a senior commander which was republished by Wagner's Telegram channel.

Reuters could not confirm what looks like the most detailed breakdown of Wagner numbers for several months. But if accurate they give an insight into the extent of the losses both sides are suffering in the Ukraine war - and of the continued strength of one of the world's most battle-hardened mercenary forces.

The senior commander known by his nom de guerre "Marx", Wagner's chief of staff, said in the post that a total of 78,000 Wagner men had participated in what he cast as "the Ukrainian business trip", 49,000 of them prisoners.

Wagner helped Russia annex Crimea in 2014, fought ISIS militants in Syria, operated in the Central African Republic and Mali and took the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut for Russia earlier this year with considerable losses on both sides.

"Up to 10 thousand fighters have gone or will go to Belarus," he said. "About 15 thousand have gone on holiday."

The post contradicted remarks by a Russian lawmaker who said that as many as 33,000 Wagner fighters had signed contracts with the defense ministry.

"If all the dead and those who went on holiday signed up then I suppose it is possible," Marx said.



Erdogan Accuses Top Turkish Business Group of Political Meddling

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a statement during the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan November 12, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a statement during the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan November 12, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
TT
20

Erdogan Accuses Top Turkish Business Group of Political Meddling

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a statement during the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan November 12, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a statement during the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan November 12, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo

President Tayyip Erdogan accused Türkiye's top business association, TUSIAD, of meddling in politics and undermining the government on Wednesday, piling pressure on a group already being investigated over an executive's remarks on democracy. Speaking to his ruling AK Party in the parliament, Erdogan said TUSIAD had "overstepped" and he dismissed it as a remnant of the past that had thrived on economic privilege and political influence.

"TUSIAD's mentality is a symbol of weak governments in Türkiye's past (and it is) full of businessmen who have grown under the shadow of unfair profits and privileges at the expense of the nation," he said.

"They once dictated politics through newspaper headlines. We put an end to that. We did not recognize any power above the will of the people," he said, accusing the group of fueling political instability and attempting to pressure the government. TUSIAD executive Omer Aras, who is the chairman of QNB's Turkish banking unit, last week criticized a government crackdown on dissenting figures, saying the probes into opposition leaders and journalists had shaken trust and damaged democracy. In response, a prosecutor's office opened an investigation into his remarks, prompting a drop in Istanbul-listed stocks. On Wednesday, Istanbul's prosecutors' office expanded the probe to include TUSIAD President Orhan Turhan, citing his statements at the group's general assembly as "misleading and disruptive to public order."

A statement on Wednesday from the Istanbul prosecutor's office said Aras and Turhan were under investigation for "attempting to influence a fair trial" and "publicly spreading misleading information," and that authorities had ordered them to appear for questioning. TUSIAD, whose members account for 85% of Türkiye's foreign trade and 80% of the country's corporate tax revenue, said on Tuesday it was working for national interests.

It did not address the investigation into Aras directly and did not immediately comment on Erdogan's remarks.

Erdogan said his government has raised per-capita income, built roads and spread prosperity since coming to power more than two decades ago. "As long as we are in power, no one will bring back the old system where a handful of elites siphoned off state resources," he said.

Opposition lawmakers have faced a wave of arrests, detentions and probes in the last few months that critics say aim to silence dissent and weaken Erdogan's rivals' electoral prospects. The government dismisses this accusation and says the judiciary is independent.