A large convoy carrying fighters from the Wagner private army was spotted entering Belarus from Russia early on Saturday, a monitoring group reported after the country’s defence ministry said it planned for the mercenaries and Minsk’s own armed forces to conduct joint military drills.

The independent monitoring group BelaruskiHajun, which tracks the movements of armed forces in Belarus, said that at least 60 trucks, buses and other large vehicles crossed into the eastern European country accompanied by Belarusian police.

The group didn’t immediately provide photos or videos of the vehicles but said they had license plates from Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine, where Wagner mercenaries fought alongside Russian troops until a short-lived mutiny last month.

The convoy headed towards a military base outside Osipovichi, a town 230km north of the Ukrainian border, Belaruski Hajun said.

AP/PTI