Russia has developed up to 20,000 mercenaries of the private company Wagner and fighters from Syria, Libya and other areas in its new offensive in Donbas, according to a European official. He noted that estimates for the involvement of mercenaries in eastern Ukraine range from 10,000 to 20,000.
“I can tell you that we have seen some transfers in these areas, Syria and Libya, in the eastern part of Donbass, and these types are used mainly against the Ukrainian resistance. “They do not have heavy weapons or vehicles,” he said, according to the British Guardian.
Ex-Syrian soldiers have been offered monthly salaries of $ 600 to $ 3,000, depending on their rank and experience, to fight in Ukraine, the report said. Wagner has reportedly transported most of its troops fighting in Libya to Ukraine, and last month Ukrainian intelligence claimed that Russia had agreed with Moscow-backed Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar to send fighters from his country.
The mercenaries are used in the Russian attempt to occupy as much of eastern Ukraine as possiblewhich Western defense officials have described as a rush for some sort of victory that Vladimir Putin may announce at the May 9 military parade in Moscow.
The Kremlin is believed to have four goals in this second phase of the war in Ukraine, the European official said: occupation of Donbass, securing a land bridge to Crimea where the besieged city of Mariupol is vital, occupation of the Kherson region for securing the supply of fresh water in Crimea and the occupation of additional territory that could be used as a reserve or bargaining chip in the negotiations.
Source: News Beast
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