the According to insiders, the number of Russian mercenaries in Ukraine has increased in recent weeks. Some Nato members fear hence the fact that these groups are united with ties to Russian intelligence services should provide a pretext for an invasion, three senior Western security officials told Reuters. “It is likely that Russian mercenaries under the direction of the Russian state will be involved in any hostilities in Ukraine,” said one of them. Among the people deployed is a former secret service officer who also worked for the Wagner mercenary group. He traveled to Donetsk, one of two regions in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.
Reuters could not verify the information provided by the insiders. The Russian Presidential Office said it is not increasing its presence in Ukraine, and that Russian troops have never been there, nor have they been there now. A statement from the Ministry of Defense in Moscow was not available. Mercenary groups in Ukraine could not be reached. The US Department of Defense referred to a statement by its spokesman John Kirby a few days ago that Russia wanted to create a pretext for an invasion.
The European Union has imposed sanctions on the Wagner Group. President Vladimir Putin has said they and similar organizations are neither paid by the Russian state nor do they represent Russia. Putin has massed more than 100,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine. However, his government has dismissed Western fears that this could be preparations for an inversion.