According to reports, more than 400 Russian mercenaries have been brought in from Africa to take down Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Wagner Group, a private militia, is said to have received orders from Vladimir Putin to assassinate Zelensky and 23 other government officials in order for Moscow to assume control of its eastern European neighbor.
According to The Times, the army-for-hire was flown in five weeks ago and is being paid a large sum for the mission. It is led by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who is known as “Putin’s chef.”
The highly-trained agents are said to be waiting for approval from the Kremlin before moving forward, with targets including Ukraine’s prime minister, the entire cabinet, and Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko and his brother Wladimir – both boxing champions who have become renowned figures on the capital’s front lines
According to Mail Online, the plots were thwarted after they reached the upper levels of the Ukrainian administration on Saturday morning.
Kyiv responded by imposing a 36-hour ‘strict’ curfew, forcing everyone to stay indoors so that soldiers could comb the streets for Russian infiltrators.
People were told that if they were seen outdoors during the curfew hours, they could be ‘liquidated,’ as they could be mistaken for the enemy.
According to a source familiar with the Wagner Group’s operations, between 2,000 and 4,000 mercenaries landed in Ukraine in January, but with distinct tasks. Some were reportedly dispatched to the east of the country’s rebel-held areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, while the 400 men entrusted with assassinating Zelensky arrived in Kyiv from Belarus.
The organization is believed to be following Zelesnky and his coworkers about on their cellphones, claiming to be able to track them at all times.
Another insider said that the hired killers have been advised to slow down while Putin meets with Zelensky for ‘peace talks’ this week.
However, they have reportedly been informed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no inclination to achieve an agreement, describing the meeting on the Belarusian border as “smoke and mirrors.”
