Some 20,000 mercenaries are fighting in Ukraine, says European official

Up to 20,000 mercenaries from the Russian private military company Wagner Group and others from Syria and Libya are fighting alongside Moscow’s forces in Ukrainesaid a European official on Tuesday.

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“According to their capabilities, they are infantry. They have no heavy vehicles or weapons. They are clearly infantry,” the official told reporters in Washington, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“These guys are mainly used as a mass against the Ukrainian resistance,” the official stressed.

He explained that, of the estimated 10,000 to 20,000 mercenaries involved in the invasion, it is difficult to say how many are from the Wagner group, which is said to be close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and how many are from Syria and Libya.

The official said there has been some “transfer” of fighters from Libya and Syria to the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

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At the end of March, the British Ministry of Defense said that more than 1,000 mercenaries of the Wagner group could be participating in the fighting in Ukraine, including senior leaders of that organization.

The European official said that in four to six months the war will likely have reached a stalemate, with Russian troops controlling Lugansk, which is part of Donbas, and a small land bridge inside the southern Ukrainian province of Zaporizhia. .

The official also predicted that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine could be concluded by next fall, with which the war could be over before winter begins.

Source: Elcomercio

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