Wagner Group's Mercenaries Group Claims Not To Be In Ukraine

Wagner Group's mercenaries in Africa. (Wikimedia Commons/Corbeau News Centrafrique)

JAKARTA - The Russian Wagner Group's paid-up group on Monday announced it was no longer at war in Ukraine, only operating in African and Belarusian regions.

Ukraine on Sunday asked Belarus to withdraw what it describes as a significant force stationed along their common border. It said this included Belarusian special forces and former Wagner mercenaries.

In a rare statement, the group said its employees were only operating in Africa and Belarus.

"There is no company division in the Russian National Guard, in the ranks of the Russian Ministry of Defense, or elsewhere," he said.

Wagner "does not participate in Special Military Operations at this stage", he said, using the terms the Kremlin likes for war in Ukraine. Reuters was unable to verify the statement.

"If a situation changes, it will be announced," Wagner said.

It is known that the role of Wagner's mercenaries group in Africa, for example in supporting the military junta in Mali, is a source of concern to the West.

In Ukraine, the group was actively involved in the early stages of Russia's war efforts, particularly the long battle to seize the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut which was eventually captured in May 2023.

The following month, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin led a brief uprising against Russia's defense authorities. Later, he and other senior Wagner figures were killed in a plane crash on August 23, 2023.