Polish border guard patrols by the metal wall between the Polish-Belorussian border on July 09, 2023, in Jurowlany, Poland. Last week, the Polish government announced it was sending 500 counterterrorism police to the border with Belarus amid fears that the Wagner Group, the Russian private army, would be relocating to Belarus following its recent aborted mutiny in Russia. (OMAR MARQUES/GETTY IMAGES)
The ostensible coup launched by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin last month has led to debate over whether he exposed a vulnerability in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bulwark. But despite speculation of Putin’s imminent downfall, the incident seems to have had little impact, and what was first seen as a botched insurrection now seems like a carefully orchestrated event.
A Belorussian soldier stands guard at a newly-built camp on a site previously used by the Belorussian army that could potentially accommodate up to 5,000 Wagner troops, on July 07, 2023, 90 kilometers (295275.6 feet) (approximately 55 miles) southeast of Minsk, 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. (ADAM BERRY/GETTY IMAGES)
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