The American newspaper The New York Times (NYT) published satellite images of the Belarusian military unit No. 61732 in the village of Tsel — a possible field camp of the Wagnerians. Photos of this part in the Osypovych district of the Mogilev region were also previously published by Radio Svoboda.
The images shown by the NYT were taken by Planet Labsʼ Dove satellites on June 24 and 27. These are medium-resolution satellites, so the image quality is poor. The best satellites of Planet Labs have not yet received a clear image of the objects.
The newspaper writes that work in the abandoned part began on June 25. Objects similar to tents appeared there. The newspaper notes that "the size, color and location of the structures are similar to other military tent cities that have been built in Belarus and Russia since the beginning of 2022."
For comparison, the newspaper published a picture of this part from June 15, which shows that there was no work there then.
The information that the mercenaries of the PMC "Wagner" may be stationed in Belarus appeared after Prigozhinʼs rebellion in Russia. At least some of them can settle there "of their own free will," Putin noted.
- On the evening of June 23, the founder of the Russian PMC Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin accused the Russian military of hitting the mercenary rear camp, "a huge number of fighters died." The command for the destruction of the PMC "Wagner" was allegedly given by Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov after a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Prigozhin announced the beginning of the "march of justice", took control of Rostovʼs military facilities, including the airfield, and the "Wagnerians" began to move towards Moscow.
- On the evening of June 24, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus Oleksandr Lukashenko agreed with Prigozhin "about the inadmissibility of unleashing a bloody massacre on the territory of Russia." Then Prigozhin informed that they were disbanding the columns and returning to the field camps. After that, it became known that Prigozhin would go to Belarus (Ukraine was assured that there was no threat of an attack by the "Wagnerians" from the north).
- On June 26, Yevgeny Prigozhin said that he started the mutiny in Russia because the local authorities wanted to liquidate the PMC from July 1 and transfer the fighters to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
- According to CNN, US intelligence officials believe that Prigozhin had long been planning to seriously challenge the Russian military leadership, but what his ultimate goal was is unknown.