The man was among two Chinese nationals taken prisoner near the villages of Tarasivka and Bilohorivka during a clash between Ukrainian troops and a Russian assault group on April 8.
The collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria following a lightning rebel offensive in November has shaken Assad-ally Russia’s near-decade of influence in the country. It has also had one other lesser-known consequence: disrupting Moscow’s ability to recruit Syrian fighters for its war in Ukraine. The Kyiv
Russia is sending private mercenaries to Syria to reinforce its troops, possibly its so-called Africa Corps, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency (HUR) claimed on Dec. 3.
The U.K. government on Nov. 7 announced its largest package of sanctions against Russia since May 2023, focusing on the Russian defense industry and mercenary groups.
The Krakow District Court has begun the trial of two Russian nationals, Andrei G. and Aleksei T., who were allegedly hired by the Wagner Group to distribute flyers in Krakow, Poland encouraging people to join the organization.
"Russia has established a scheme with travel companies to recruit Syrians for the war against Ukraine. First, poor people are offered jobs as security guards in Russian oil regions, and then they are lured with a higher salary" to fight the war against Ukraine, HUR said on social media.
"In comparison to its peak personnel count of around 50,000 in 2023, Wagner now likely maintains around 5,000 total personnel across its residual deployments in Belarus and Africa," the ministry said.
"We have links with the Ukrainians, but just as we have with everyone else, the French, Americans, and others," said Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, a spokesperson for the pro-independence coalition.
In a post on X, the Strategic Framework for the Defense of the People of Azawad, said it killed 84 Wagner fighters and 47 Malian troops.
According to the Telegram message, Wagner troops and their Malian army comrades fought off the initial assault by Tuareg rebels, but a sandstorm allowed to the rebels to regroup and lay an ambush, resulting in heavy losses for the coalition of Russian mercenaries and Malian government soldiers.
Mali’s army and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group lost dozens in killed and wounded in a battle with rebels in the country’s north, a spokesman for the rebels claimed on July 27.
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