Wagner mercenary group is trying to save money on salaries because of the financial pressure of likely being cut off from Kremlin funding, the British ministry of defense said in an intelligence update on Sunday.
“The Wagner Group is likely moving towards a down-sizing and reconfiguration process, largely to save on staff salary expenses at a time of financial pressure,” the UK ministry said.
It added: “Since the abortive mutiny of June 2023, the Russian state has acted against some other business interests of Wagner owner Yevgeny Prigozhin. There is a realistic possibility that the Kremlin no longer funds the group.”
However, Wagner group may have found another benefactor: “If the Russian state no longer pays Wagner, the second most plausible paymasters are the Belarusian authorities.”
Nevertheless, “the sizable force would be a significant and potentially unwelcome drain on modest Belarusian resources.”
Prigozhin had started a brief revolt in June which swiftly ended with him calling off his Wagner forces’ march on Moscow after agreeing to a deal which would see him exiled in Belarus without any legal action taken against him in Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Wagnerites who participated in the mutiny a choice, to either join the Russian army or go back home to their families or go to Belarus.
Many Wagner fighters have arrived in Belarus and Minsk said on July 14 that the mercenaries were training Belarussian soldiers as instructors, according to BelTA citing the defense ministry.
Wagner fighters have been training Belarusian special forces on the border with Poland.
Read more:
Belarus reviews border security with Wagner fighters amid Polish, Ukrainian concerns
‘Tense with Wagner’: Lukashenko struggles to keep mercenaries from attacking Poland
250 Wagner troops carry out ‘psychological operation’ on Polish border: Kyiv
