Wagner ready to defend Russian border province

Boss Wagner announced his readiness to deploy forces to protect Belgorod province, an area bordering Ukraine and which has seen many attacks in recent times.

"If the Russian Defense Ministry cannot stop the unrest in the Belgorod region in the near future, we will obviously have to go there to defend Russian territory," Yevgeny Prigozhin, boss of the private military corporation Wagner, said on Telegram on June 3.

Prigozhin said that the fighting in Belgorod province had resulted in many civilian deaths. This made it impossible for him to continue waiting for an "invitation" to deploy forces to reinforce Belgorod.

Prigozhin has repeatedly attacked the Russian Defense Ministry and military commanders over their strategy in Ukraine and border defense. He believes that the Russian military leadership is incapable of defending Belgorod, forcing thousands of people to evacuate from the province bordering Ukraine.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin talks with soldiers in Bakhmut in this photo released on May 25. Photo: AFP

Prigozhin said most of the Wagner forces in Ukraine had withdrawn from the city of Bakhmut, in the Donbass region. British intelligence last week assessed that Donetsk militia had begun moving into Bakhmut to help clear the battlefield. In addition, Russia’s 31st Airborne Brigade may have been deployed to take over Bakhmut, preventing the Ukrainian army from making a flanking attack.

Wagner fought alongside regular Russian forces in Ukraine and became the spearhead of the months-long assault on the city of Bakhmut. But Prigozhin said his forces would have suffered fewer casualties if the Russian Defense Ministry had provided more ammunition and better coordination.

Over the past few weeks, Belgorod has seen a number of cross-border attacks, allegedly carried out by Ukrainian intelligence. Meanwhile, Kiev has consistently denied any connection with the units attacking Belgorod.

The Russian border province has also been hit by repeated shelling targeting fuel, transport and military infrastructure. Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of Belgorod, said the province had recorded 500 explosions from artillery and rockets on June 2. The shelling killed at least five people.

Western experts say that the cross-border shelling and incursions into Russian territory have forced Russia to disperse its forces to deal with them. They also say that security at Russia’s borders has deteriorated, potentially forcing the country to spend a lot of resources to patch the gaps.

Location Belgorod Oblast. Graphics: WP

Thanh Danh (According to AFP )

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