Satellite images appear to show build-up at Wagner base in Belarus

[June 29, 2023]  (Reuters) - Satellite images of a military base southeast of the Belarus capital Minsk appear to show new facilities set up in recent days, suggesting the swift construction of a base for Wagner, the Russian mercenary company behind an abortive mutiny.   

A satellite image appears to show new facilities set up recently, at a military base southeast of Minsk, Belarus June 27, 2023 in this handout image obtained by Reuters on June 29, 2023. European Union/Copernicus Sentinel-2/Handout via REUTERS

Russian media have reported that Wagner, whose leader Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in Belarus on Tuesday, could set up a new base at a vacant military facility near the town of Asipovichi, about 90 km (50 miles) from Minsk.

Images captured by the European Space Agency's Sentinel 2 satellites on June 27 show rows of long structures in the nearby village of Tsel, in a field which had appeared empty on June 14.

Reuters could not verify the nature of the construction. The images are publicly available through searches on the ESA website.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko invited Wagner to set up operations in his country as part of a deal that ended the mutiny on Saturday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Wagner fighters were free either to move to Belarus, join the Russian military or go home, following the mutiny, which he said had threatened to bring civil war to Russia.

Prigozhin said he launched his mutiny to demand changes in military leadership he blamed for failures in the war in Ukraine, and to prevent the destruction of his force after it was ordered to submit to control of the ministry of defence.

(Reporting by George Sargent and Milan Pavicic, Writing by Peter Graff, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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