From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Ukraine: More Wagner Group mercenaries in country to attempt to assassinate Zelensky
Ukraine has said that another group of mercenaries from the Wagner Group has arrived in the country with the aim of assassinating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukrainian defense officials said Sunday that “another group of militants linked to Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a Russian propagandist close to Putin and owner of the Liga [Wagner], began arriving in Ukraine.”
“The main task of criminals is to eliminate the top military and political leadership of Ukraine,” said the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.
“Putin personally ordered another attack by one of the few proxies,” the officials said in a Facebook post.
Last month it was reported by London’s The Times that over 400 Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group had been sent to Kyiv and ordered to assassinate Zelensky.
The newspaper says thousands of other Russian mercenaries have been operating in Ukraine since the start of the year.
The Wagner Group plays a key role in promoting the Kremlin’s interests abroad. It has faced multiple accusations of carrying out crimes and atrocities.
