YUROVE, Ukraine — Fears have grown along Ukraine’s northern border about the potential for new military attacks since Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenaries relocated to Belarus after last month’s short-lived mutiny against Moscow’s military leadership, with Ukraine — and even Poland — tightening security and stepping up defenses.
Belarus served as a staging ground when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his wide-scale invasion in February 2022, including a failed assault on Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
Defeated Russian units then retreated back across the Belarusian border.
Putin’s decision to allow Prigozhin and his fighters to escape punishment for the rebellion by relocating to Belarus prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to direct the military and national security forces to beef up defenses in the north./WP