Mercenaries of the Russian Wagner group began to trainn Belarusian special forces in the military field just a few miles from the border with Poland, which is a member of NATO, the Belarusian Defense Ministry announced on Thursday.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin appeared in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now but ordering them to “retain” their forces for Africa.

“Armed forces of Belarus continue joint training with Wagner fighters”, the Ministry of Defense of Belarus reported. “During the week, special operations forces units together with Wagner fighters will conduct training exercises in the Brest military area».

The area is just 5 km east of the Polish border.

Minsk released photos of masked Wagner trainers, their faces covered in accordance with the mercenary group’s rules, training Belarusian soldiers with armored vehicles and drone controls.

Poland’s defense ministry is monitoring the situation on the border with Belarus and is prepared for various scenarios, it said today after Belarus announced that mercenaries from the Russian Wagner group would take part in military exercises near the border.

“Ta Poland’s borders are secure, we monitor the situation on our eastern border on a continuous basis and are prepared for various scenarios as the situation evolves“, according to a statement sent by email from the Ministry of Defense.

Poland announced earlier this month that it would send 500 police officers to beef up security on its border with Belarus to deal with growing numbers of migrants crossing the region and potential threats after Wagner’s fighters relocated to Belarus.

Poland’s decision to build up its forces along its border with Belarus for reasons including the presence of Wagner mercenaries is a “cause for concern”, the Kremlin said today.

In a teleconference with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Poland an “aggressive” country and said “increased caution” was needed.