The 400-strong squad of bloodthirsty mercenaries flown in from Africa with orders to kill Volodymyr Zelensky are part of a notorious pr...
The 400-strong squad of bloodthirsty mercenaries flown in from Africa with orders to kill Volodymyr Zelensky are part of a notorious private militia linked to a string of rapes, robberies, murders, and alleged war crimes.
The Wagner Group - which is believed to have a hit list of 23 key figures including the Klitschko brothers - is considered by military experts to be at the beck and call of Vladimir Putin, although the Kremlin has repeatedly denied this.
The force has already been heavily involved in supplying weapons, experienced special operations personnel, and military training to pro-Russian militias in eastern Ukraine, according to military sources.
Some of its operatives have been embedded on the Ukrainian border after training at a base run by the GRU - the Kremlin's military intelligence unit - near the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, the sources - speaking to Reuters - said.
Sending the Wagner Group into Ukraine would fit in with its use by the Russian state elsewhere in the world. It has previously been deployed to Africa, where it has carried out black ops operations that the Kremlin wants done while avoiding direct responsibility.
The army-for-hire, allegedly run by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin - a close ally of the Russian president who is often dubbed 'Putin's chef' - was flown in five weeks ago and is being offered a huge sum for the mission, according to The Times.
The highly trained operatives are said to be waiting for the green light from the Kremlin to pounce, with their hit list also including Ukraine's prime minister, the entire cabinet, mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko and his brother Wladimir - both boxing champions who have become iconic figures on the front lines of the capital.
However, their plans were rumbled after they reached the upper echelons of the Ukrainian government on Saturday morning.
It prompted Kyiv to declare a 36-hour 'hard' curfew, ordering everyone indoors so that soldiers could sweep the streets for Russian saboteurs.
Citizens were warned that they risked being 'liquidated' if they were spotted outside during the curfew hours, as they may be assumed to be the enemy.
For Western observers, Wagner Group's links with the Kremlin are in little doubt. Putin himself has been pictured at a Kremlin function with Wagner troops including lieutenant colonel Dmitry Utkin, the group's suspected founder.
In 2020, investigative news site Bellingcat uncovered records revealing Wagner's reputed boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had made 99 calls to Vladimir Putin's chief of staff in eight months and frequently spoke to top officials at the Kremlin.
The Kremlin once again denied it has any influence over Wagner and suggested that Prigozhin only provides catering services to the Russian government.
The Wagner Group (pictured in Syria) has conducted covert operations across Africa and the Middle East, including in Syria, and they have most recently been on the ground in Ukraine to guide Russian tanks to the capital
Vladimir Putin poses with four alleged Wagner officers at a function at the Kremlin - which denies any involvement with Russian mercenary groups
Wagner Group has been involved in fighting across Africa, including in Syria, Libya, Mozambique and the Central African Republic - with observers noting the close correlation between their actions and the Kremlin's own policy aims.
In 2019, a man who filmed the torture and beheading of a Syrian prisoner was identified as Stanislav D, a soldier who was known to have been employed by Wagner in the country to help prop up its Kremlin-backed dictator, Bashar Assad.
The victim was identified by independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta as Mohammed Taha Ismail al-Abdullah, a Syrian national, who was accused of deserting from an army unit loyal to Assad.
In the clip, a man can be seen laying on the ground and is surrounded by a small group of four men all dressed in camouflage.
The group break the victim's legs with a sledgehammer before crushing his chest, beheading him, and cutting off his lower arms. They then hang his corpse by his legs and set the body on fire.
In Libya, the BBC obtained a Samsung tablet owned by a Wagner fighter which revealed the group had been leaving unmarked mines in civilian areas – a war crime.
The investigation also uncovered a 'shopping list' of weapons and military equipment, including four tanks, hundreds of Kalashnikov rifles, and a state-of-the-art radar system.
A military analyst said some of the equipment could only have come from the Kremlin.
Shocking revelations also emerged about the conduct of Wagner fighters, with one former member openly admitting to killing prisoners because 'no-one wants an extra mouth to feed'.
Meanwhile, one Libyan villager described how he played dead as his relatives were killed around him.
Wagner's appearance in Mali was one of the reasons given by French president Emmanuel Macron for his decision to pull out 2,400 troops from the country, where they had been fighting jihadists.
Mr Macron suspected the mercenaries had struck a deal with Mali's ruling junta.
He said Wagner was 'arriving in Mali with predatory intentions, but why?'
'Because the junta which is in power after two coups d'états considers them to be the best partners they can find to protect their power, not to fight against terrorism.'
Wagner fighters were welcomed into the Central African Republic (CAR) by President Faustin-Archange Touadéra to assist in his fight against rebels.
Over the course of the campaign, both the UN and France said they had been responsible for raping and robbing unarmed civilians in the country's rural areas.
In total, the UN documented more than 500 incidents in the country during the year from July 2020, including sexual violence, extrajudicial killings and torture.
Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin (pictured left) is nicknamed 'Putin's chef' because of his catering business which supplies services to the Kremlin
Although inspectors accepted some of the violence had been carried out by rebels, CAR's Justice Minister Arnaud Abazene acknowledged for the first time that some abuses had been carried out by 'Russian instructors'.
Wagner has also been involved in operations against ISIS in Syria and Mozambique.
In Mozambique, seven mercenaries were killed by ISIS-linked militants - including four who were shot and then beheaded.
Both attacks were ambushes in Mozambique's northern Cabo Delgado state, according to sources in the country's military.
The Times reported that between 2,000 and 4,000 Wagner Group mercenaries arrived in Ukraine back in January, but with different missions.
In 2019, a man who filmed the torture and beheading of a Syrian prisoner was identified as Stanislav D, a soldier who was known to have been employed by Wagner in the country to help prop up its Kremlin-backed dictator, Bashar Assad
Some were sent to the rebel-held regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in the east of the country - while the 400 tasked with taking out Zelensky headed to Kyiv from Belarus.
The group are now said to be tracking Zelensky and his colleagues via their mobile phones - claiming to know where they are at all times.
Another source claimed the killers-for-hire have been told to put on the brakes while Putin holds 'peace talks' with Zelensky this week.
But they have allegedly been informed that the Russian leader has no desire to reach a deal, branding the meeting on the Belarus border as 'smoke and mirrors.'
News of their assassination plans has not seemed to faze Zelensky, who admitted he was 'target number one' during an address to the nation, telling them Russian special forces were hunting him.
Wagner Group are now said to be tracking Zelensky and his colleagues via their mobile phones - claiming to know where they are at all times
When the US offered to extract him, he told President Joe Biden: 'I need ammunition, not a ride.'
Wagner has conducted covert operations across Africa and the Middle East, including in Syria, and they have most recently been on the ground in Ukraine to guide Russian tanks to the capital.
General Sir Richard Barrons, a former commander of Joint Forces Command, said: 'They are very effective because they are hard to pin down.
'They can appear from the shadows, do very violent things and then disappear again, without it being obvious who was responsible. They are not directly linked to the Russian government and therefore they are plausibly deniable.'
Sources said the militia were briefed about Putin's plans against Ukraine back in December, long before the Russian army was told. Soldiers and generals were feared to oppose the invasion plans, and several have been executed for doing so, it is claimed.
The army-for-hire, run by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin - a close ally of the Russian president (pictured) who is often dubbed 'Putin's chef' - was flown in five weeks ago
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