Alexander Lukashenko

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has urged law enforcement agencies to deploy armed patrols on the streets of the country's cities to bolster public safety, according to Reuters reports.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko yesterday banned citizens from renewing their passports while abroad, which could force those who fled the country, amid a growing crackdown, to return to keep their travel documents.

The Nobel Foundation on Sept. 2 withdrew its invitation for representatives of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend this year's Nobel Prize award ceremonies after the decision announced a day earlier "provoked strong reactions."

Russian former world number two Vera Zvonareva has been denied entry to Poland where she was to participate in next week's Polish Open WTA tournament, the interior ministry said on July 22.

"Vera Zvonareva was trying to enter our country with a visa granted by France, via a flight from Belgrade," according to a statement issued by the Polish ministry.

Former FSB agent and Russian military blogger Igor Girkin warned that members of Wagner would not hesitate to kill Russians if ordered to do so by their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Let us remind you that last month, the Wagner members launched a short-lived armed rebellion against the Russian military leadership.

Belarus said Friday that instructors from the Russian mercenary force Wagner were training its troops, following weeks of uncertainty about the future of the group after its failed mutiny in Russia.

The short-lived rebellion was ended by a deal under which some Wagner fighters and their outspoken leader Yevgeny Prigozhin were supposed to move to Belarus.

The Kremlin said Monday that President Vladimir Putin had met with Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on June 29 in the Kremlin, days after the mercenary group attempted to topple Russia's military leadership.

According to the Kremlin, Putin and Prigozhin met on June 29, five days after the rebellion ended.
As Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained, 35 people attended the meeting.
"All the commanders were invited, including Prigozhin himself. This meeting was held in the Kremlin on June 29. It lasted almost three hours," Peskov said without giving details of the meeting.

The mercenary leader who led a short-lived mutiny against the Kremlin is in Russia and his troops are in their field camps, the president of Belarus said Thursday, raising new questions about the deal that ended the extraordinary challenge to President Vladimir Putin's rule.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday ordered security to be beefed up at his country's border with Belarus, where fighters from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner have been offered exile.