Russia is threatening to use Wagner fighters to invade NATO’s “weakest link” in Poland and Lithuania “within hours,” according to a Putin cronie, in a move that could spark World War III.
The Suwalki Corridor is a 60-mile strip of land that straddles the Polish-Lithuanian border, and is of enormous strategic importance to both NATO and Russia.
For the West, it is the only land link to the three ex-Soviet Baltic republics – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – which are seen as vulnerable to Putin if the current east-west tension worsens.
For Russia, control of the corridor would provide a land link between the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, the main base for Putin’s Baltic Fleet, and Belarus, a staunch Kremlin ally.
A senior Putin lawmaker revealed on state television that Wagner’s forces were ready to march on the wanted territory “within hours.”
Russia threatens Wagner fighters to invade NATO’s “weakest link” in Poland and Lithuania “in a matter of hours.” In the photo: Wagner’s troops on their way to Belarus
Putin (pictured in June) plans to use the military to invade the strategically important Suwalki Corridor, a senior cronie has claimed.
Reserve Colonel General Andrey Kartapolov, now a deputy and loyal chairman of the Russian parliament’s defense committee, told state television: “It is clear that Wagner [mercenary army] went to Belarus to train the Belarusian armed forces.
‘[But] not alone, and not so much. There is such a place as the Suwalki Corridor.
‘If something were to happen, we really need this Suwalki corridor.
‘A strike force [based in Wagner forces in Belarus] You’re ready to take on this runner in a matter of hours.
His ‘shock fist’ land grab scheme would hit sparsely populated territory that has been labeled NATO’s ‘Achilles heel’ or ‘soft underbelly’.
Because it could be the first point of contact in a World War III, the corridor has been called “the most dangerous place on earth.”
A Russian move here with state-backed Wagner would likely trigger NATO clause 5, turning the Alliance against Russia.
However, Poland is rapidly rearming due to the threat from Moscow, and Germany will permanently deploy 4,000 troops to Lithuania as NATO strengthens its presence in the Baltic states.
Russia’s latest incendiary move comes less than 24 hours after Putin claimed Russia has a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster munitions that it threatened to use if Ukraine deploys the controversial weapons.
In an interview on Sunday, Putin said: “Until now, we have not done this, we have not used it and we have not had such a need.”
Putin’s senior parliamentarian, Colonel General Andrey Kartapolov, revealed on state television that Wagner’s forces were ready to march on the wanted territory “in a matter of hours.”
The Suwalki Corridor is a 60-mile strip of land that straddles the Polish-Lithuanian border.
Cluster bombs open in midair, releasing dozens of smaller bomblets; however, they have a high failure rate, meaning they often leave behind unexploded segments that can harm civilians after the battle is over.
The cluster munitions have been sent by the United States to aid the war in Ukraine and are seen as a way to get urgently needed munitions into Kiev to bolster its offensive against Russian forces.
Thousands of Wagner troops have arrived in Belarus in recent days.
More were seen today on the highway of Russia’s Lipetsk region heading to the landlocked states.
An agreement was reached to move the troops to Belarus after Wagner stopped their armed mutiny on June 24.
It comes as Putin claimed on Sunday that Russia has a “significant reservoir” of cluster bombs (weapon remains, including cluster munitions, are displayed in Toretsk, Ukraine, in December).
The US sees the munitions, which are bombs that burst open in midair and release dozens of smaller mini-bombs, as a way to get critically needed munitions for Kiev to help bolster its offensive and push through the front lines. russian.
The use of cluster bombs by Russia (some pictured) and Ukraine has been extensively documented and cluster rounds have been found after Russian attacks.
Wagner’s humiliated leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was exiled to the country after sensationally abandoning his group’s march on Moscow when it was just 120 miles from the capital.
The ‘armed mutiny’ had seen the group take the city of Rostov and march on the capital in a breakneck 24-hour advance.
Prigozhin announced that while his men were only 200 kilometers (120 miles) from Moscow, he decided to turn them back to avoid “shedding Russian blood.”
Belarusian President Lukashenko said then that he had negotiated a deal with Prigozhin.
However, earlier this week, a former US general claimed that Wagner’s rebel is either dead or in one of Putin’s gulags after the failed coup.
Retired General Robert Abrams said ABC News he doubted that ‘we will see him again’.
Meanwhile, Putin has ‘purged’ up to three more generals as the Russian leader seeks to root out those he suspects are his enemies, Telegram reports today.
This would bring the total number of fired, suspended, detained or missing persons to 11.
Telegram channel Verum Regnum commented on the Bloody Sunday killings, saying: ‘Right now, the fate of the army is being decided, and then the fate of the country.
Wagner’s mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves the headquarters of the Southern Military District amid the group’s withdrawal from the city of Rostov-on-Don on June 24.
Reports indicate that 46-year-old Major General Alexander Kornev (pictured) has been removed from command of the 7th Airborne Assault Division.
In the photo: Major General Ramil Ibatullin, 46, commander of the 90th Panzer Division
Airborne Forces Commander Mikhail Teplinsky, left, pictured with Vladimir Putin during his spring 2023 visit to the currently occupied Lugansk region of Ukraine.
‘If the military officers succeed in concentrating their power, trampling all buds of initiative and professional honor in the troops, destroying the last born heroes [in the conflict against Ukraine]the inglorious end of the war is near.
There are rumors that the regular army is turning against Putin, following the Wagner mutiny last month.
Reports indicate that Major General Alexander Kornev, 46, has been removed from command of the 7th Airborne Assault Division.
The unconfirmed claims also suggest that the troops are trying to save Colonel General Mikhail Teplinskiy, 54, and have recorded a message threatening a paratrooper mutiny if he is detained.
Separate reports say Major General Ramil Ibatullin, 46, commander of the 90th Panzer Division, and two of his aides have been detained on the pretext of financial irregularities.
