Mercenaries from the Russian Wagner military company launched joint exercises with the Belarusian army today, Thursday, nearly a month after their brief rebellion against Moscow, and Poland has deployed forces at its border with Belarus in response to the military maneuvers.

The maneuvers came after Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin pledged to assist in protecting Belarus from a potential incursion and to strengthen its army. The Belarusian Ministry of Defense stated that the week-long exercises would take place at a shooting range near Brest, a city on the Polish border.

A video released on Wednesday showed Prigozhin for the first time since he led last month's rebellion, indicating to his troops that before deploying to Africa, they would spend some time in Belarus to provide training to help make the Belarusian army the second strongest army in the world.

Before the failed rebellion led by Prigozhin, Wagner mercenaries fought alongside Russian forces in eastern Ukraine and have been sent to Syria and various African countries since Prigozhin established the private army in 2014.

On Thursday, the UK government imposed asset freezes and travel bans on 13 Wagner mercenaries due to alleged attacks on civilians and other human rights violations in Africa. Britain had previously imposed sanctions on Prigozhin and several other Wagner leaders due to the group's role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

During the rebellion that began on June 23 and ended the following day, Prigozhin’s mercenaries seized a military headquarters in the city of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia and then advanced nearly 200 kilometers (125 miles) toward Moscow.

The Wagner chief described the rebellion as a "march of justice" to overthrow top military leaders in Russia, facing little resistance, and downing at least six military helicopters and a command aircraft, resulting in the deaths of at least 10 pilots.

The uprising posed the most significant threat to the 23-year rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin, eroding his authority and exposing the government's fragility.

Prigozhin ordered his troops to return to their camps after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered a deal to end the rebellion in exchange for amnesty and permission for Prigozhin and his fighters to move to Belarus.

Belaruski Hahon, a Belarusian activist group monitoring troop movements in Belarus, reported that nine convoys carrying more than 2,000 Wagner mercenaries have already entered the country. The Wagner leader stated, "Around 10,000 Wagner soldiers are scheduled to be deployed in Belarus."

Opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was forced to flee Belarus after challenging Lukashenko in the 2020 elections, which were condemned by the opposition and the West as fraudulent, stated that the Wagner deployment would destabilize the country and threaten its neighbors.

She added, "The arrival of Wagner will increase instability, and no one will feel safe with these war criminals roaming the country."

For his part, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Thursday that he has ordered the transfer of some of his country’s troops from the west to Biala Podlaska, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) west of Brest, and to Kolno, to the north.

He added, "We must bear in mind that bringing a few thousand Wagner troops into Belarus poses a threat to our country, which is why I decided to transfer some military units from western Poland to the east. Their mission is to train and deter the aggressor, and to show Russia that it should not cross the border of Poland, and that attacking Poland will bear no fruit."