Poland doesn’t rule out tension rise on border with Belarus

This was said by the Commissioner of the Polish government for the security of the information space, the spokesman for the minister coordinator for special services, Stanislaw Zaryn, Ukrinform reports with reference to Radio Poland.

"We cannot rule out that Prigozhin will be used in Belarus to strengthen at least this hybrid operation that hits Poland directly. This, of course, is an issue that needs to be monitored, which the Polish services will certainly do," said Zaryn.

In his opinion, the June 24 events in Russia were not an introduction to power change. Zaryn added that this is about the rivalry of the factions that reign over Russia. "We are dealing with certain frictions between various groups involved in military operations against Ukraine. But it must be clearly said: until today in Russia, neither among the power elites, nor in the army, nor in society are there any strong resistance movements regarding the main strategic goals and actions," said the Polish government spokesman.

He also expressed the opinion that the latest developments in Russian could in fact turn out to be a disinformation campaign intended to conceal real intentions targeting the West.

As reported, on June 23, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the "Wagner" PMC, went for a démarche against the Russian military leadership, in particular against Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Prigozhin’s private army took control of Rostov-on-Don and part of Voronezh region on June 24, after which the Wagner leader ordered his mercenaries to advance on Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the insurrection attempt, calling it a blow to the country’s back and vowing “harsh punishment” for those involved.

Later the same day, Alexander Lukashenko, in coordination with Putin, held talks with Prigozhin. Following these negotiations, Lukashenko’s office reported a de-escalation deal involving Prigozhin being exiled to Belarus and no legal action being taken against Wagner forces.

The military convoy heading for Moscow made a U-turn just over 100 miles away from the Russian capital. The mercenaries also withdrew from the captured Russian military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don.

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, called the mutiny attempt the first stage in dismantling the system built up by Russian President Vladimir Putin.