The New York Times has reported that Russian mercenaries with combat experience in Syria and Libya are gearing up to assume an increasingly active role in the war in Ukraine.
The number of mercenaries deployed to Ukraine from the Wagner Group, a private military force with ties to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, is expected to more than triple to at least 1,000 fighters from about 300 a month ago, just before the invasion, a United States official said on Friday.
The report indicated that Wagner Group is relocating not only some of its mercenaries in Libya and Syria to Ukraine, but also artillery, air defenses and radar that the group was using in Libya, citing the Pentagon official as saying that the Russian military is supporting these transfers by providing military cargo aircraft to relocate personnel and equipment.
“Earlier this year, Western intelligence services detected the first small groups of Wagner mercenaries leaving Libya and Syria and arriving in Russian-controlled Crimea. From there, they filtered into the rebel territories.” The report added.
