Tent Camp Prepared For Possible Use By Wagner Mercenary Troops

ASIPOVICHY, BELARUS - JULY 07: Major General Leonid V. Kasinsky, an assistant to the Belarusian minister of defense responsible for ideology, visits a site previously used by the Belarusian army that could potentially accommodate up to 5,000 Wagner troops, on July 07, 2023, 90 kilometers (approximately 55 miles) southeast of Minsk, near the village of Tsel’ in Asipovichy District, Belarus. Mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russia-funded Wagner private military group that led a short-lived rebellion in Russia last month and said to currently be located once again in that country, is a former close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and has led his troops on behalf of Putin in the war in Ukraine. The role of Wagner after the attempted mutiny is unknown, but experts say the group will endure as a fighting force in some form. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has offered to station Wagner troops in his country in such camps, has stated that the group's fighters are currently still in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)