Putin ‘using migrants as weapons’ as Wagner sparks EU immigration surge fears

Vladimir Putin has been accused of using migrants as a weapon with which he can destabilise the West. And Poland’s Prime Minister appeared to suggest that the Wagner Group could be paving the way for another wave of immigrants from the Middle East and Africa heading to the EU – and, potentially, onwards to the UK – as a form of ‘hybrid warfare’.

Poland’s government made the claim as its PM, Mateusz Morawiecki, said more than 100 mercenaries belonging to the Russian-linked Wagner group in Belarus have moved close to the border with Poland. Poland is a member of the European Union (EU) and Nato and has worried about its security with Russian ally Belarus and Ukraine on its eastern border.

Those fears have grown since Wagner group mercenaries arrived in Belarus since the group’s short-lived rebellion earlier this summer. The Poland-Belarus border has already been a tense place for a couple of years, ever since large numbers of immigrants from the Middle East and Africa began arriving. They are seeking to enter the EU by crossing into Poland, as well as Lithuania.

Poland’s government accuses Russia and Belarus of using the migrants to destabilise Poland and other EU countries. It calls the migration a form of hybrid warfare and has responded by building a high wall along part of its border with Belarus.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki appeared to suggest that the Wagner group’s presence near his border could be a prelude to another wave of migrants. He told reporters: “This is certainly a step towards a further hybrid attack on Polish territory.”

“Now the situation becomes even more dangerous,” he added. Morawiecki made the comments during a visit to an arms factory in Gliwice, in southern Poland, where Leopard tanks used by the Ukrainian army are being fixed.

It comes as Putin ruled out a ceasefire while Russia is still under attack from Ukraine. Kyiv has launched a major attack on Russian forces as part of its weeks-long counteroffensive, committing thousands of troops to a battle in Ukraine’s southeast.

African leaders meeting Putin in St Petersburg hoped there could broker a peace initiative. However, while Putin said the plan could be a basis for peace, he claimed that elements of the initiative “are difficult or impossible to implement.”

Putin said: “There are provisions of this peace initiative that are being implemented. But there are things that are difficult or impossible to implement.”

“We cannot cease fire when we are under attack.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected a ceasefire, as doing so would leave Russia in control of nearly a fifth of Ukraine. It would also give Putin’s armed forces a chance to regroup.