Zelensky orders tighter security at Ukraine-Belarus border

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered that security be strengthened at his country’s border with Belarus, where mercenary fighters from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner have been offered exile.Following Wagner’s short-lived mutiny against Moscow last week, the Kremlin gave fighters from the private army the choice of signing contracts with the Russian defence ministry, returning to civilian life or going into exile in Belarus, whose authoritarian leader is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.Zelensky said he had been informed yesterday of the situation in Belarus by the Ukrainian intelligence service GUR, foreign intelligence services and border guards."By the decision of the Stavka (chief of staff), Commander-in-Chief (Valery) Zaluzhny and General (Sergey) Nayev were instructed to strengthen the northern direction in order to guarantee peace. There are appropriate deadlines,” the Ukraine leader said in a video posted on Telegram.He did not mention Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin in the brief post on Telegram.Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko offered Prigozhin refuge after he ended the armed rebellion a week ago that posed the greatest challenge yet to Putin’s rule in RussiaLukashenko – who has supported Putin throughout the war against Ukraine and allowed Russian troops to be stationed in Belarus, although his own forces have not participated directly in the conflict – said this week that his army would benefit from the combat "experience” of Wagner commanders.At the same time, he downplayed the activities the mercenaries will be authorised to carry out in the country.Ukraine has on several occasions voiced fears of an attack launched from Belarusian soil.Media have reported that Wagner could set up a new base at a vacant military facility near the town of Asipovichi, about 90km (50 miles) from the Belarusian capital, Minsk.Zelensky said the situation in other frontline areas, supplies of artillery and shells, and advances by Ukrainian troops against Russia’s occupying forces were also discussed at yesterday’s meeting.Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said earlier that Ukrainian troops were advancing in all directions of the counteroffensive they began against Russian forces this month."If we talk about the entire frontline, both east and south, we have seized the strategic initiative and are advancing in all directions,” she told Ukrainian television."In the south, we are moving with varying success, sometimes there are days when it is more than a kilometre, sometimes less than a kilometre, sometimes up to 2km,” the deputy defence minister said.Reuters was unable to verify the situation on the battlefield.Russia, which began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, has not acknowledged the Ukrainian gains and has said Ukraine’s military are suffering heavy casualties.