The Kremlin-installed leader of Crimea has reportedly formed a pro-Russian mercenary group named “Convoy,” which was inspired by the notorious Wagner Group.
According to reports, the group has already been dispatched to occupied areas of southern Ukraine’s Kherson region.
A member of the mercenary outfit has stated that although the organisation is owned by Aksyonov, all members are former Wagner employees.
The group was seen training in a forest and learning how to dig trenches and place landmines in a Russia-24 TV broadcast.
The Convoy’s Telegram account was launched in November and features a lot of Russian Orthodox imagery and icons, as well as references to Ukrainians being “Satanists.”
According to Russian opposition media, the Convoy’s leader is Konstantin Pikalov, a former Wagner officer in Madagascar and the Central African Republic.
A number of countries have turned to the Russian mercenary force known as Wagner, which has been on the front lines of Russia’s war in Ukraine but also has a presence in Africa.
Wagner began operating in Mali, which ousted French troops based there, and there are concerns that it will also deploy to Burkina Faso, where France also ended its military presence.
Ghana recently accused Burkina Faso’s leaders, which took power in a coup last year, of already turning to Wagner for help, something Akufo-Addo said would be “unsettling.”
It comes as two people were killed and 29 wounded Monday when Russian forces shelled the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, local officials said.
Video footage of the aftermath showed damaged residential buildings, debris in the streets and vehicles on fire.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “terrorism.”
Russia has denied targeting residential areas even though artillery and rocket strikes have hit Ukrainian apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure daily during russia-ukraine”>the war.
The Sloviansk attack followed a typical pattern of long-range shelling adopted by the Kremlin’s forces, especially in recent months as the fighting became deadlocked during the bitterly cold winter months.
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Kaynak : https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1751359/Crimea-leader-Wagner-Group-Putin