London, 25 June 2023 (dpa/MIA) - A former British army general has warned of a potential attack on Ukraine from Belarus by Wagner fighters if large numbers of the mercenaries follow their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin into exile there.

"The fact that he's gone to Belarus is a matter of some concern," former chief of general staff Richard Dannatt told Sky News on Sunday, a day after Prigozhin called off the short-lived Wagner mutiny against the Russian authorities.

It was still unclear how many of Prigozhin's fighters would follow him to the neighbouring Russian-allied country, Dannatt said about the private military company's armed component, which is estimated at some 25,000 men.

If he has "kept an effective fighting force around him then he presents a threat again to the Ukrainian flank closest to Kyiv," where the war began on 24 February last year, Dannatt said.

It was "quite possible" that Russia may use the Wagner Group to try and take Kyiv again after the fleeting rebellion that ended with Prigozhin agreeing to de-escalate and relocate to Belarus.

Photo: EPA