EASTERN FRONT
Wagner troops on Nato’s doorstep at ‘weak link’ border as Belarussians launch missiles in chilling war games
RUSSIAN ally Belarus has begun massive military exercises with missiles and tanks close to NATO's Achilles heel as Wagner Group forces have also reportedly been spotted at the border.
The Suwalki Gap, spanning the Polish-Lithuania border, has seen an influx of troops as NATO nations strengthen their borders for fear of provocation from Russian-linked Belarus.
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Belarus said the current exercise will “train troops in controlling units during combat", but is seen as a threat from President Lukashenko on the orders of Vladimir Putin.
There is as yet no direct evidence of Wagner involvement in the exercises at Gozhsky training ground, but its soldiers have been seen close to the NATO border in recent weeks.
It has been confirmed that the Wagner mercenaries are training Belarusians for armed conflict, as Belarus boasted about "learning lessons from the war" in which Wagner has fought.
Poland said its seen an increase in attempts to illegally cross the border from Belarus, resulting in the deployment of a further 1,000 Polish troops this week.
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This 60-mile strip Suwalki Gap is wedged between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
It has massive strategic importance for NATO and the EU - as well as Russia - if conflict were to erupt.
For the West, it is the only land link to the three ex-Soviet Baltic republics - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - which are seen as vulnerable to Putin if the current east-west tension worsens.
For Russia, control of the corridor would give a land link to Kaliningrad, the main base of Putin’s Baltic Fleet.
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It comes shortly after Belarusian troops and the Wagner mercenary group announced they would conduct joint military exercises after the attempted coup from Wagner soldiers in late June.
Last month, Russia threatened to use the Wagner group to invade NATO's weakest link in Poland and Lithuania, a move which would likely trigger World War 3.
A top Putin parliamentarian claimed on state television the mercenary group is prepared to strike in "a matter of hours" from Belarus.
Russian reservist Col-Gen Andrey Kartapolov, also an MP and chairman of the Russian parliament’s defence committee, has said that Wagner forces could be deployed in this sensitive location.
He threatened: “There is such a place as the Suwalki Corridor... Should anything happen, we need this Suwalki Corridor very much…
“A strike force [based in Wagner forces in Belarus] is ready to take this corridor in a matter of hours.”
A Russian move here with state-backed Wagner would likely trigger NATO’s clause 5, setting the Alliance against Russia.
In late June, Wagner soldiers marched on Moscow in an attempted coup led by exiled Wagner commander Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Prigozhin fled to Belarus after striking a deal with Vladimir Putin to stand down his rebel forces just 120 miles from Moscow.
It was the largest challenge to Putin's iron fist rule since he rose to power in the aftermath of the collapsed Soviet Union and took control of the Kremlin more than two decades ago.
After his expulsion from Russia, the whereabouts of Putin's former lap dog remained a mystery for weeks as thousands of Wagner troops have arrived in Belarus.
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An embarrassing image emerged of the warlord sitting on a camp bed in his pants after it was confirmed he had arrived in Belarus.
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