An elite group of shadowy Russian mercenaries has entered Ukraine to again attempt to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and his right-hand men, the war-torn nation’s military warned Sunday.
“Another group of militants connected with Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian propagandist close to Putin and owner of [Wagner], began arriving in Ukraine today,” Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense tweeted.
“The main task of criminals is to eliminate the top military and political leadership of Ukraine,” the department insisted.
Zelensky, 44, has always maintained he is Russia’s number one target — with his family second — and has reportedly survived more than a dozen assassination attempts, one of his key advisers said earlier this month.
At least some of those previous attempts were tied to Wagner, the Kremlin-backed private paramilitary outfit accused of some of the worst atrocities around the world and run by an oligarch known as “Putin’s chef.”
As well as targeting the president, the mercenaries are gunning for Zelensky’s chief adviser, Andriy Ermak, as well as Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, according to Fox News, citing a longer warning by the defense department’s main intelligence board of directors.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has always maintained he is Russia’s number one target. STR/UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SER/AFP via Getty Images“Putin personally ordered another attack … All previous attempts have ended in the failure and elimination of terrorists,” the post said.
“The organization of assassinations of the first persons of our state is part of the strategy of the occupiers.
“The Kremlin’s plans are well known to the Ukrainian army, special services and law enforcement agencies,” stressed the post cited by Fox.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the governor of Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, Dmitry Artyukhov, at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21, 2022. MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21, 2022. MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images
The moment a Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic missile destroys an ammunition depot in western Ukraine. MoD Russia/e2w“We are ready to repel the aggressor both at the front and in the rear. No terrorist attack will succeed.”
With an estimated 6,000 members, the Wagner Group — also known as Liga — first emerged during previous conflicts with Ukraine in 2014.
It was later linked to widespread rapes and robberies of civilians in the Central African Republic, as well as the mutilation and beheading of a Syrian army deserter in 2017.
Russian paratroopers taking control of an undisclosed airfield in Ukraine. Russian Defence Ministry/AFP via Getty Images
Russian servicemen stand next to US and UK anti-tank missiles that were abandoned by the Ukrainian army during its retreat in the Donetsk region. EPA/RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE
Russian servicemen stand guard near a place where humanitarian aid for Ukrainian people is handed out. EPA/RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICEWhile it claims to be a private mercenary group, it “has morphed so much over time that at this point it may be just a name for a Russian state activity,” Columbia University’s Kimberly Marten previously testified to Congress.
By using the supposedly private company, it “gives the Russian state plausible deniability for state-supported actions,” Marten said.
Prigozhin — who is also wanted by the FBI — has repeatedly denied any connection.
Despite the clear threats to his life, Zelensky has defiantly remained in the capital, Kyiv, even posting a video showing him in his easily found government offices.
