Wagner mercenary group ready to defend Russian border region of Belgorod: Yevgeny Prigozhin

The head of the Wagner mercenary group, on Saturday (June 3), said that his fighters would be ready to defend the Russian border region of Belgorod which has recently witnessed a number of attacks. This comes as the group’s founder and chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has criticised the Russian military brass for not being able to defend Belgorod.

What did Prigozhin say about Belgorod?

The Wagner chief said that he would not wait for an “invitation” to deploy his fighters in the Russian border region. “If the defence ministry, in the near future, does not stop what is happening in the Belgorod region…then of course we will come to defend Russian land,” saidPrigozhin.

He added, “The civilian population is dying in Belgorod.”So far, thousands have been evacuated from southwestern Belgorod days after an incursion from Ukraine.

Prigozhin, who founded the Wagner mercenary group andwhose fightershave spearheaded battles in Ukraine, particularly in Bakhmut hasgained widespread notoriety since the war in Ukraine began over a year ago.

What is happening in Belgorod?

On Saturday,Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed that an unprecedented Ukrainian shelling killed two people in the border region. “Since this morning, the district of Shebekino has been under shelling of the Ukrainian armed forces,” said the Russian official.

Among those killed were two women, one “elderly woman” was killed in the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka while the other succumbed to her wounds in the village of Bezlyudovka. Last week, Russia claimed that it repelled an attempted incursion along its border with Ukraine from what it calls pro-Ukrainian militants.

According to Gladkov, the region has been hit by 500 attacks on Friday which included artillery and rocket fire and five people lost their lives during these attacks.

The reported incursion with a suspected drone attack and heavy shelling also prompted a partial evacuation of civilians from the area. The Russian defence ministry said that it repelled three cross-border attacks on Thursday.

It was said to be a joint effort by the Russian army units, border guards and units of the Federal Security Service which repelled the attack which involved five tanks and four armoured vehicles and some 70 fighters whotried to enter the entire border near Novaya Tavolzhanka and Shebekino.

The defence ministry claimed over 50 Ukrainian fighters were killed and four armoured vehicles were destroyed.

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)

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