Mercenaries of PMC Wagner are leaving Belarus by buses? Looks like another disinformation campaign

The information about the mass withdrawal of mercenaries of PMC Wagner from Belarus currently has no confirmation.

Recently, information about the mass withdrawal of mercenaries of PMC Wagner from Belarus to Russia on vacation has been actively spread in the informational space. Let’s review the development of the situation in chronological order.

▪️ On August 5, we received screenshots from the drivers’ chat, where it was said that unknown people were allegedly looking for buses with drivers in Belarus to send passengers from Asipovichy to Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, Moscow and St.Petersburg. In total, they wanted to rent at least 11 buses for the transportation of Wagner mercenaries. We note that this information hasn’t received any confirmation and hasn’t been published in the media.

▪️ On August 6, the Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported that Wagner mercenaries were allegedly sent on “vacation” from Belarus to Russia. On August 8, the same channel reported that the withdrawal of mercenaries from Belarus was being carried out “in batches of 500-600 people by buses to Voronezh, Rostov and Krasnodar.” The first stage of the withdrawal of mercenaries was allegedly already coming to an end, while “the second stage will begin after August 13.”

▪️ As of the morning of August 11, Belarusian Hajun didn’t record bus convoys with Wagner mercenaries. Given the information about the withdrawal of mercenaries in groups of 500-600 people, there should have been 10-12 buses in one such convoy — such large convoys would be noticed.

The main reason why the mercenaries began to allegedly leave Belarus massively was indicated as Lukashenko’s unwillingness to participate in the financing of PMC (he expected that the funding would come from Russia). At the same time, a small group of instructors will remain in Belarus to train Lukashenko’s enforcers. No confirmation of this was published in the VChK-OGPU channel. Lukashenko himself previously stated that the mercenaries would stay in Belarus “at their own expense.”

▪️ Thus, the information about the mass withdrawal of mercenaries of PMC Wagner from Belarus currently has no confirmation.