Russia is recruiting mercenaries from private military groups to fight in Ukraine.
According to reports by the press service of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, mercenaries from the PMC Wagner (ChVK Wagner or Private Military Company Wagner) have joined Russian forces and are taking part in hostilities in Ukraine.
Reports of the Wager Group’s presence were verified by dog tags found on the bodies of dead soldiers.
“Some of the dog tags were created for military operations in Syria and contain inscriptions in Arabic, English and French. They also contain Syrian phone numbers,” reported intelligence.
The Wagner group is a Russian military enterprise staffed by former Russian service men who became mercenaries. The group has taken part in numerous conflicts including the war in Donbas, fighting alongside Russian backed separatists; in Syria they supported Putin’s ally Bashar Hafez al-Assad; and Sudan they were involved in putting down uprisings against Omar al-Bashir.
An independent mission conducted by the UN established that actions of the Wagner Group qualify as war crimes or crimes against humanity. The European Union has imposed personal sanctions against the members of the Wagner Group.