Moscow: Following weeks of ambiguity regarding the group's future following its aborted uprising in Russia, Belarus announced on Friday that instructors from the Russian mercenary force Wagner were instructing its troops.

A deal that called for some Wagner fighters and their outspoken leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to relocate to Belarus put an end to the brief uprising.

Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, cast doubt on the agreement earlier this month when he claimed that no Wagner fighters had yet entered the nation.

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The arrival of at least a few Wagner fighters was reportedly confirmed by the Belarusian defence ministry on Friday.

According to a statement from the defence ministry, territorial defence troop units are receiving training close to Asipovichy.
According to the statement, "fighters from the Wagner private military company are serving as instructors in a variety of military specialties."

Later, the ministry stated that it had developed "a road map for the near term on training and sharing experience" between various units with Wagner.
The Wagner group, which heavily recruited from Russian prisons, was instrumental in the offensive in Ukraine.

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In a video made public by the defence ministry of Belarus, masked fighters were seen serving as instructors for soldiers training in a nearby tent camp.

Earlier this month, a camp close to Asipovichy was shown to a group of foreign journalists by Belarusian officials who claimed it could be the mercenaries' base of operations.
In his Friday evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Kiev was "closely monitoring what is happening there in terms of security."

The most recent development occurred as time was running out on a deal with Russia that had been mediated by the UN and Turkiye and would have allowed Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea, a crucial supply route for the developing world.

Monday will mark the expiration of the agreement, which was first signed in July 2022, five months after Moscow's all-out assault on Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has repeatedly threatened to not renew it due to what he claims are barriers to Russian exports.
On Friday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, sounded optimistic about the likelihood of a deal extension.

Erdogan told reporters, "We are getting ready to welcome Putin in August and we agree on the extension of the Black Sea grain corridor."
However, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, told the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that "there were no statements on this subject from the Russian side."

The much-hyped counteroffensive in Ukraine, which started last month, continued but made only very slow progress.
Ukraine has put the slow delivery of promised weapons on their shoulders and requested that allies send fighter jets and long-range weapons.

On Friday, Ukraine reported that over the previous seven days, its forces had advanced 1,700 metres (just over a mile) along the front line in the south.
Despite "dense" minefields and shelling, Ukrainian troops are moving forward, according to Mykola Urshalovych, a senior National Guard official.

Additionally, there have been some gains to the north and south of Bakhmut, a city that Russian forces took in May after a conflict that lasted almost a year.

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Ukrainian forces are attempting to pincer-surround the eastern city. Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, acknowledged that Kiev's forces were moving forward "not so quickly." "If we notice that something is off, we'll let you know. Nobody is going to lie, he assured the press.

Yermak added that until Russian troops had left, Ukraine would not even consider holding talks with Moscow. He declared that only after Russian troops have left our territory would it be possible to even consider having these talks. In his evening address, Zelensky discussed the difficulties that the troops on the front lines face.

"We must all comprehend, as clearly as possible, that the Russian forces are making every effort to obstruct our troops in our southern and eastern regions.

And each of our combat brigades deserves praise for every thousand metres gained and successful mission, he continued.
In the fourth night of aerial assaults by Moscow, the Ukrainian air force reported on Friday that it had shot down 16 drones of Iranian manufacture that had been launched by Russian forces overnight.