Putin threatening to ‘use Wagner fighters to invade strip of land between Poland and Lithuania’

Russia is threatening to use Wagner fighters to invade Nato’s ‘weakest link’ in Poland and Lithuania ‘in a matter of hours’, according to a Putin crony – in a move that could trigger World War Three.

The Suwalki Corridor is a 60-mile strip of land straddling the border between Poland and Lithuania – and holds massive strategic importance for 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 give a land link between the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, main base of Putin’s Baltic Fleet, and firm Kremlin ally Belarus.

A top Putin parliamentarian revealed on state television that the Wagner forces were ready to march on the sought-after territory ‘in a matter of hours’.  

Russia is threatening to Wagner fighters to invade Nato’s ‘weakest link’ in Poland and Lithuania ‘in a matter of hours’. Pictured: Wagner troops on their way to Belarus

Putin (pictured in June) is planning to use the army to invade the strategically important Suwalki Corridor, a top crony has claimed

Reservist Colonel General Andrey Kartapolov, now an MP who is the loyalist chairman of the Russian parliament’s defence committee, told state television: ‘It is clear that Wagner [mercenary army] went to Belarus to train the Belarusian armed forces.

‘[But] not only, and not so much. There is such a place as the Suwalki Corridor.

‘Should anything happen, we need this Suwalki Corridor very much.

‘A strike force [based in Wagner forces in Belarus] is ready to take this corridor in a matter of hours.’

His ‘shock fist’ land grab plan would hit sparsely populated territory which has been labelled Nato’s ‘Achilles heel’ or ‘soft underbelly’.

Because it could be the first point of contact in a Third World War, the corridor has been branded ‘the most dangerous place on earth’.

A Russian move here with state-backed Wagner would likely trigger Nato’s clause 5, setting the Alliance against Russia.

Yet Poland is rapidly rearming due to the threat from Moscow, and Germany is to deploy 4,000 troops permanently in Lithuania as Nato strengthens its presence in the Baltic states.

The latest incendiary move from Russia comes less than 24 hours after Putin claimed that Russia has a ‘sufficient stockpile’ of cluster munitions that he 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.’

Top Putin parliamentarian Colonel General Andrey Kartapolov revealed on state television that the Wagner forces were ready to march on the sought-after territory ‘in a matter of hours’

The Suwalki Corridor is a 60-mile strip of land straddling the border between Poland and Lithuania

Cluster bombs open in the air and release scores of smaller bomblets – however they have a high ‘dud’ rate, meaning they often leave behind unexploded segments that can harm civilians after the battle has ended. 

The US has sent the cluster munitions to aid the war in Ukraine and are seen as a way to get Kyiv critically-needed ammunition to bolster its offensive against Russian forces.  

Thousands of Wagner troops have arrived in Belarus in recent days.

More were seen today on the road in Russia’s Lipetsk region heading for the landlocked states.

An agreement was reached to move the troops to Belarus after Wagner halted their armed mutiny on June 24.

Humiliated Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was exiled to the country after sensationally abandoning his group’s march on Moscow while only 120 miles away from the capital. 

It comes as Putin claimed on Sunday that Russia has a ‘significant stockpile’ of cluster bombs (remains of weapons including cluster munitions are pictured in Toretsk, Ukraine in December) 

The munitions, which are bombs that open in the air and release scores of smaller bomblets, are seen by the US as a way to get Kyiv critically needed ammunition to help bolster its offensive and push through Russian front lines

The use of cluster bombs by both Russia (some pictured) and Ukraine has been widely documented and cluster rounds have been found in the aftermath of Russian strikes

The ‘armed mutiny’ had seen the group take the city of Rostov and march on the capital in a whirlwind 24-hour advance. 

Prigozhin announced that while his men were just 200 kilometers (120 miles) from Moscow, he decided to turn them back to avoid ‘shedding Russian blood.’

Belarusian President Lukashenko then said that he had negotiated a deal with Prigozhin. 

However, earlier this week an ex-US general claimed the Wagner rebel is either dead or in one of Putin’s gulags following the botched coup. 

Retired General Robert Abrams told ABC News he doubted ‘we’ll ever see him again’.  

Meanwhile Putin has ‘purged’ up to three more generals as the Russian leader seeks to root out those he suspects to be his enemies, according to Telegram reports today. 

This would take the total fired, suspended, detained or vanished up to 11. 

Telegram channel Verum Regnum commented on the Bloody Sunday axings, saying: ‘Right now, the fate of the army is being decided, and afterwards the fate of the country.

Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves the headquarters of the Southern Military District amid the group’s pullout from the city of Rostov-on-Don on June 24

Reports indicate Major-General Alexander Kornev (pictured), 46, was removed from command of the 7th Airborne Assault Division

Pictured: 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 area of Luhansk region of Ukraine

‘If military officials manage to concentrate their power, trampling all the sprouts of initiative and professional honour in the troops, destroying the last heroes born [in the conflict against Ukraine], the inglorious end of the war is coming.’

There is said to be rumours of the regular army turning against Putin – in the wake of Wagner’s mutiny last month. 

Reports indicate Major-General Alexander Kornev, 46, was removed from command of the 7th Airborne Assault Division.

Unconfirmed claims also suggest that troops are seeking to save Colonel-General Mikhail Teplinskiy, 54, and have recorded a message threatening a paratroopers mutiny if he is detained.

Separate reports say Major-General Ramil Ibatullin, 46, commander of the 90th Panzer Division, and two of his deputies has been detained on the pretext of financial irregularities.