According to “The Times”, there are about 400 mercenaries of the so-called Wagner group in Kyiv targeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and members of the Ukrainian government.
“More than 400 Russian mercenaries are operating in Kyiv with orders from the Kremlin to assassinate President Zelensky and his government and prepare the ground for Moscow to take control,” the magazine has reported.
On Saturday morning, the Ukrainian government was to be informed about the Wagner mission, and a few hours later Kyiv announced a curfew.
The so-called Wagner Group is a private Russian military company owned by Vladimir Putin’s confidant, the oligarch Evgeny Prigzyn. It acts as the Kremlin’s “long-arm” and is sent to conflict sites in which Russia is not officially involved.
Since mid-December last year, the Wagner Group is subject to EU sanctions for torture, execution and killing in Libya, Syria and Donbas, among others.