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

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

"Another group of militants linked to Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a Russian propagandist close to Putin and owner of the Liga (Wagner), began arriving in Ukraine today," the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said in a Facebook post. 

"The main task of criminals is to eliminate the top military and political leadership of Ukraine." 

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Besides Zelenskyy, other "key targets" for the Russian mercenaries were Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Andriy Ermak, a Ukrainian film producer and lawyers serving as Zelenskyy’s chief adviser, according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. 

"Putin personally ordered another attack by one of the few proxies," the post said. "All previous attempts have ended in the failure and elimination of terrorists." 

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has for weeks sounded the alarm about thousands of Russian mercenaries from the private military company Liga, formerly known as PMC Wagner, coming into Ukraine. 

"The Russian occupiers, having failed to achieve their goals during the full-scale aggression against Ukraine, continue to try to destabilize the Ukrainian government, demoralize society, disrupt the resistance movement, and slow down Ukraine's international cooperation," the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said on Sunday. "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," the post stressed. "We are ready to repel the aggressor both at the front and in the rear. No terrorist attack will succeed." 

The Times 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 outside could be mistaken for enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups.

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

He is allegedly the financial backer of the Wagner Group, though he’s consistently denied any affiliation.

Sometimes described as Putin’s chef, Prigozhin was already sanctioned by the U.S. and remains on the FBI’s Most Wanted list for allegedly interfering in U.S. elections from early 2014 to at least 2018 through the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency, infamously dubbed the "troll factory."

Ukrainian officials said that Zelenskyy has survived several assassination attempts. Besides Wagner militants, reports indicate Chechen fighters had also been tasked with eliminating Ukrainian politicians. 

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Since its inception in 2014, the Wagner Group has been considered a proxy group of the Russian state abroad, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). 

It was founded by Dmitry Utkiny, a veteran of both Chechen wars and a former member of the Main Intelligence Directorate, or the Russian intelligence agency abbreviated as GRU. He and other Wagner Group operatives participated in the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.