Two versions of the detention of PMC fighters: Did Lukashenko save them, or set them up?
The arrest of Mar PMC fighters in Belarus may not have been an initiative of Alexander Lukashenko, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The 33 detainees planned to fly from Belarus to Turkey, from where they were supposed to head to civil war-torn Libya, having signed a contract to protect the Zuwara oil port near Tripoli, which is controlled by the Government of National Accord of Fayez al-Sarraj. Military correspondent Yuri Kotenok writes about this on his blog.
Thus, once in Libya, the Mar PMC fighters had every chance to enter into a confrontation with another Russian PMC – Wagner, which supports the Libyan National Army of the opposition Marshal Haftar.
“As nonsense, but I’m embarrassed to ask, if they went to fight for Sarraj (that is, against Haftar), maybe in this way they were made to understand that it was not worth doing this?” – military correspondent Alexander Kots puts forward a version.
Military observer Boris Rozhin does not rule out a similar scenario. “If this information is correct, is the attempt to work on the side of Turkey and the GNA of Libya connected with what happened? Especially considering the fact that PMCs operate on the side of the LNA and Haftar,” writes Rozhin.
Perhaps Lukashenko, by inflating the story of the detention of PMC Mar fighters for his election purposes, also provided some service, admits international journalist Abbas Juma.
“If you think about it, you can say thank you to Lukashenko. Firstly, he saved fools from death. There are, of course, complete zeroes in this “PMC”. And secondly, they would have been nailed to Tripoli, and then shown to the whole world with Russian passports. Like, look, the “Wagnerites” killed in battles,” explains Juma.
In turn, military correspondent Igor Dimitriev does not rule out that the fighters detained in Belarus were simply “divorced.”
“At the beginning of June, there was some fuss associated with the MAR PMC. Many friends asked who they were. Apparently the owners have changed and they are hiring specialists. But whoever I asked what kind of office this was, everyone answered something like “Bullshit and jerk off! Consists of one person. It’s better not to get involved.” But the guys in this area are risky, they could have contacted us. Therefore, I can also assume that they were sent into the dark. Do you know what I mean? Someone promised a contract in some hot country, but the tickets were given through Minsk. It looks like a scam,” writes Dimitriev.
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