Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko clearly “has something on” Vladimir Putin after booting the Wagner Group out of his country, an analyst has said.
Analyst Sean Bell told Sky News that Belarus has been “provoking Poland” into pushing more troops to its borders in a move set to infuriate NATO.
Belarus has made a number of huge moves in recent days that have enraged all sides of the Ukraine war – including NATO.
It has led to serious questions about what Lukashenko is actually looking to gain from the conflict, and how his once-solid relationship with Putin is holding up.
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Alexander Lukashenko ‘has something on’ Vladimir Putin, an insider claims (Image: GETTY)
Belarus has reportedly kicked out the Wagner Group, which alongside its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin were invited into the coutnry after a failed military coup earlier this summer.
The country also forced Poland to bolster its defenses along its border.
Speaking on Sky News, Mr Bell said: “Part of this is about Lukashenko, the head of Belarus, who is becoming emboldened of late, largely because he has got the Wagner Group of mercenaries in Belarus.
“And he has been provoking Poland saying he’s holding them back from attacking Polish soil which has enhanced the West’s concern because this is a NATO country Poland and with a great risk of escalating.”
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Vladimir Putin, the Russian president (Image: GETTY)
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He claimed military analysts “don’t think Wagner is a threat at the moment because it hasn’t got any military equipment… but Poland is not going to take any chances”.
Mr Bell continued: “So as a result, they’ve got 10,000 extra troops on their border with Belarus… what’s alarming about this is the Belarus president is full of alarming rhetoric.”
Since Prigozhin was welcomed into Belarus following the failed military coup of his organisation the Wagner Group, Lukashenko has appeared “emboldened… almost as if he has got something on Putin”.
But Mr Bell added: “There is a grave risk.”
Reports earlier this week fueled the belief that Wagner forces were preparing to leave Belarus – including analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
According to Euronews, the pact between Belarus, the Wagner Group and Russia, which saw Prigozhin spark an armed rebellion in June, has now collapsed.
The ISW reports that a Russian insider claimed around 500 to 600 Wagner troops were already making their final moves before leaving.
The Ukrainian state civil defence organisation, though, says around 50 Wagner soldiers carried out manoeuvres along the Poland/Belarus border on Friday morning.
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