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Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. Photo: AP

Wagner founder says ex-US Marine general working for Russian mercenary group

  • Yevgeny Prigozhin revealed the American is commanding a British battalion on the battlefield
  • Founded in 2014, Wagner group has been active in Ukraine, Africa and the Middle East in recent years
Russia
The head of the Russian mercenary outfit Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Friday that a former US Marine general was working for the group.

In response to a request for comment from Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, Prigozhin said: “There are not very many Finnish citizens in the Wagner PMC, about 20 people. But for obvious reasons, I cannot give exact information about them”.

“I have a very good opinion about the Finns on the battlefield. They are fighting in a British battalion [as part of Wagner PMC], which is commanded by a US citizen, a former general of the Marine Corps,” Prigozhin said as quoted by the press service of his company Concord.

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Prigozhin, dubbed “Putin’s chef” because of his Kremlin catering contracts, has been hit with EU and US sanctions.
In September, he disclosed for the first time that he founded the Wagner group in 2014 to fight in Ukraine and acknowledged its presence in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Prigozhin called Wagner’s personnel “pillars of our motherland”.

But the Russian government has always denied any ties to paramilitary groups.

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For years, the Wagner group has been suspected of playing a role in realising the Kremlin’s overseas ambitions, including in Ukraine where Wagner fighters have been at the forefront of Moscow’s February offensive.

The UN, Western governments and aid groups have accused the Wagner group of atrocities against civilians.

This month Wagner opened a headquarters in Russia’s second city of Saint Petersburg.

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