Wagner Group: What is known about the mercenaries sent to Ukraine to assassinate President Zelensky

The British newspaper “The Times” reported on Monday that more than 400 Russian mercenaries are operating in Kiev under orders from the Kremlin to assassinate the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyand to members of your Government in order to prepare the ground for Russia take control of the country.

Its about Wagner Groupa private militia led by an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and which operates as an independent branch of the state. they arrived at Ukraine five weeks ago on a mission to behead the Zelensky government in exchange for a large financial bonusmentions the newspaper.

LOOK: More than 400 Russian mercenaries are in Kiev to assassinate President Zelensky, according to newspaper

A source close to the activities of the Wagner Groupindicates “The Times”, confirmed that by January between 2,000 and 4,000 mercenaries had arrived in Ukraine.

Some of them were sent to the disputed eastern regions of Donetsk and Luganskwhile another 400 entered from Belarus and headed towards the capital.

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The mercenaries, adds the newspaper, are waiting for a signal from the Kremlin and have been promised hefty bonuses for murders in the coming days. and a pass to leave Ukraine before the end of the week.

In addition to Zelensky, the blacklist contains another 23 peopleincluding the prime minister, the cabinet, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and his brother Wladimirboth popular former boxing champions who have joined the military fight against the invaders.

The mercenaries boast of knowing exactly where the president and his colleagues are in Kyiv and apparently they can track them through their mobile phones.

Armed pro-Russians guard a police station in the city of Slavyansk, in eastern Ukraine, on April 12, 2014. (AFP PHOTO / ANATOLIY STEPANOV).

What is the Wagner Group?

In March last year, three organizations — the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Russian Memorial Center for Human Rights — filed a complaint on Russia against what they consider “war crimes” committed in Syria by men of this “informal organization (…) under the effective control of Russia”.

The men of Group Wagner were first singled out in 2014 alongside pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. In this region where Russia denies any military presence, these well-equipped and professional fighters appeared among the rebel groups committed against the pro-Western Ukrainian authorities.

With the Russian intervention in Syria in 2015 in support of Bashar Al Asad, there were reports of his presence alongside the Russian army, especially in major battles, such as the reconquest of the ancient city of Palmyra. Moscow always denied it.

Then the scope of Wagner was expanded: in Libya, his men would be alongside Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s forces and in the Central African Republic they would form part of the “instructors” from army.

Their presence in Sudan, Mozambique or Venezuela was also noted. A cluster of suspicions but without any formal proof and always with Russian denials.

Utkin and Prigokhin

According to the state news agency TASS, Dmitri Utkin is in charge of the operations of the Group Wagner. Little is known about this man in his fifties who is said to come from military intelligence.

In December 2016, he was received in the Kremlin for a ceremony honoring “heroes”. from Syria. He was even photographed with the president Vladimir Putin.

In the financial aspect, Wagner It would be piloted by a key man in the Kremlin, businessman Yevgueni Prigokhin, a close associate of Putin, the subject of US sanctions for electoral interference and wanted by the FBI for “fraud”.

The interested party has always denied it.

Open secret

Wagner it has no legal existence in Russia, where private military companies are prohibited. However, the group would number several thousand men, including veterans of the army or the security services.

According to the Carnegie Moscow Center, Wagner it is definitely “Russia’s worst kept secret”.

The group has two functions: “provide the Kremlin with a possibility of denial during the deployment of fighters in war zones” and serve as “a tool prepared to reinforce its influence with receptive states”.

losses and scandals

However, the operations of Group Wagner they have not been without losses and scandals.

A crisis between Russia and Belarus put an unexpected spotlight on the organization in 2020, when Minsk announced the arrest of 33 “mercenaries” of the group.

These men then said that they were transiting through Belarus to other places such as Venezuela, Libya, Cuba, Turkey and Syria. Moscow was exposed and discreetly negotiated his return to Russia.

In February 2018, the group suffered heavy losses in Syria in US strikes against pro-regime fighters trying to seize oil fields.

That same year, in the Central African Republic, three Russian journalists investigating the group’s activities were murdered.

Source: EFE and AFP

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Source: Elcomercio