The first images since the confirmation of the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin show that a suspected tent camp thought to be occupied by troops from Russia’s Wagner mercenary group near the Belarusian village of Tsel, has been further dismantled.
The images, taken by Planet Labs on September 9 and obtained by RFE/RL, show that since late August, 60 more tents with the capacity to house more than 1,000 personnel had been dismantled.
That means that since early August, of 273 specialized military tents — each of which houses up to 20 people — for personnel, at least 160 had been dismantled, eliminating space for over 3,000 Wagner fighters. Some 5,000 troops were thought to have been settled at the site.
Previous images from Planet Labs appear to show that the process of dismantling the camp most likely started on August 1.
It remains unclear where the tents and the Wagner fighters are being moved to amid broader questions about the ultimate fate of the mercenary group after Prigozhin died in a plane crash in late August.
Telegram channels linked to Wagner said earlier that some of the group’s fighters in Belarus left for Russia for vacation, while some were transferred to operations in Africa.
On August 23, Russian aviation officials said Prigozhin, Wagner’s founder and leader, was on the passenger list of a plane that crashed in Russia’s western Tver region, some 270 kilometers north of Moscow. They later confirmed his death in the crash, adding that nine other people, including crew members, died along with Prigozhin.
Wagner troops moved to Belarus after Prigozhin led a mutiny against Russia’s top military officials in late June in what was the biggest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 23 years in power.
Wagner troops played a key role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, helping take main parts of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after nearly 10 months of intense fighting that killed reportedly killed thousands of mercenaries contracted to fight with the group.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/images-show-wagner-camp- belarus-shrinking/32592824.html