Poland has raised the alarm over the presence of Wagner fighters on its border with Belarus, which it says is to “launch a hybrid attack” and “destabilize” it. But Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko claims that he is rather restraining the Wagnerites.
They have been itching to go into Poland to stop what Belarus and Russia allege are Warsaw’s “revanchist ambitions” to occupy western Ukraine and Belarus.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a press conference on July 29, “We have information that more than 100 Wagner mercenaries have advanced towards the Suwalki Gap, not far from Grodno in Belarus.” Wagner fighters had arrived in Belarus last month after their short-lived rebellion against Russia’s Ministry of Defense (RuMoD).
Polish Minister of National Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak, announced on July 27 a training academy for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and mentioned its utility against Russia. It came a week after Putin promised to intervene against Poland if Minsk is threatened.
The US ambassador to the United Nations (UN) has meanwhile warned on Monday that any attack on NATO by Russia’s Wagner Group will be treated as an attack by Russia. Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the remarks while briefing reporters in New York.
Asked about the presence of Wagner forces on the Polish border, she said: “We certainly worry that this group, at the behest of the Russian government – because they do not work independently of the Russian government – is a threat to all of us.”
Poland Wields HIMARS To Deter Russia
Establishing the HIMARS Academy and the 1st Rocket Brigade at Toruń in the country’s north, Błaszczak announced that the center would also cooperate with Baltic states like Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, who too have ordered the weapon from the US. He then praised the capabilities of the Polish Army and the HIMARS platform, saying they could effectively deter Russia.
“Today, we saw the HIMARS in action, with a range of up to 300 km. The Polish Army can fire at long distances. Our task is to equip it with proven weapons that deter the aggressor, which will make Russia not dare to attack Poland. In the hands of Polish soldiers, trained both in the United States and Poland, it is a great weapon to deter the aggressor,” Błaszczak said at the training ground in Toruń.
Poland is in the middle of a massive armament buying spree, with the first of the 20 HIMARS launchers from the US, part of a $414 million deal from 2019, reaching the country in May this year. It has also inked a $13.7 billion arms deal with South Korea to buy Chunmoo rocket launchers, K2 main battle tanks, K9 self-propelled guns (SPG), and FA-50 fighter aircraft.
‘Poland Has Revanchist Ambitions’
But Russian officials rather claim that Poland envisages reacquiring what it believes are its historical territories. A meeting between Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on July 23 and Putin’s meeting with his 11-member Security Council on July 21 saw Lukashenko and Russia’s Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin touching upon Polish plans.
While Putin was non-committal on responding to a Polish intervention in western Ukraine, he, however, did promise to rush militarily to Belarus’s aid. The mobilization of Wagner fighters – now based in Belarus, to the Polish border can be seen in this context. This means the Wagner drills are a pre-emptive measure to deter Poland. Also, the Baltic nation of Lithuania has formed the ‘Lublin Triangle’ with Ukraine and Poland to execute the plan on western Ukraine, according to Naryshkin.
Source : https://www.eurasiantimes.com/wagner-attack-on-poland-will-be-treated-as-russian-attack