Ukraine warns more Russian Wagner Group mercenaries sent to ‘eliminate’ Zelenskyy

The Ukrainian protection ministry warned Sunday that one other group of Russian Wagner Group mercenaries arrived in Ukraine on a mission to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and take out different high-ranking Ukrainian politicians on the fourth week because the invasion’s onset.  

“One other group of militants linked to Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a Russian propagandist near Putin and proprietor of the Liga (Wagner), started arriving in Ukraine right this moment,” the Foremost Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Protection of Ukraine mentioned in a Fb submit. 

“The principle job of criminals is to eradicate the highest army and political management of Ukraine.” 

WAGNER GROUP: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT RUSSIAN PARAMILITARY GROUP IN UKRAINE 

Apart from Zelenskyy, different “key targets” for the Russian mercenaries have been Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Andriy Ermak, a Ukrainian movie producer and legal professionals serving as Zelenskyy’s chief adviser, in accordance with the Foremost Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Protection of Ukraine. 

“Putin personally ordered one other assault by one of many few proxies,” the submit mentioned. “All earlier makes an attempt have ended within the failure and elimination of terrorists.” 

Ukraine’s Ministry of Protection has for weeks sounded the alarm about hundreds of Russian mercenaries from the personal army firm Liga, previously often called PMC Wagner, coming into Ukraine. 

“The Russian occupiers, having failed to attain their targets through the full-scale aggression in opposition to Ukraine, proceed to attempt to destabilize the Ukrainian authorities, demoralize society, disrupt the resistance motion, and decelerate Ukraine’s worldwide cooperation,” the Foremost Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Protection of Ukraine mentioned on Sunday. “The group of assassinations of the primary individuals of our state is a part of the technique of the occupiers.”

“The Kremlin’s plans are well-known to the Ukrainian military, particular companies and regulation enforcement businesses,” the submit careworn. “We’re able to repel the aggressor each on the entrance and within the rear. No terrorist assault will succeed.” 

The Occasions of London reported in February about Wagner mercenaries being flown in from Africa on a mission to decapitate Zelenskyy. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko issued a nightly curfew in response, warning that any residents who go outdoors could possibly be mistaken for enemy sabotage and reconnaissance teams.

Prigozhin, a Russian businessman with shut ties to the Kremlin, was amongst a number of Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the Biden administration earlier this month in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

He’s allegedly the monetary backer of the Wagner Group, although he’s constantly denied any affiliation.

Typically described as Putin’s chef, Prigozhin was already sanctioned by the U.S. and stays on the FBI’s Most Wished record for allegedly interfering in U.S. elections from early 2014 to at the very least 2018 by the St. Petersburg-based Web Analysis Company, infamously dubbed the “troll manufacturing facility.”

Ukrainian officers mentioned that Zelenskyy has survived a number of assassination makes an attempt. Apart from Wagner militants, studies point out Chechen fighters had additionally been tasked with eliminating Ukrainian politicians. 

Since its inception in 2014, the Wagner Group has been thought of a proxy group of the Russian state overseas, in accordance with the Middle for Strategic and Worldwide Research (CSIS). 

It was based by Dmitry Utkiny, a veteran of each Chechen wars and a former member of the Foremost Intelligence Directorate, or the Russian intelligence company abbreviated as GRU. He and different Wagner Group operatives participated within the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.