Russia sent ‘400 mercenaries’ to kill Ukraine’s President Zelensky
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Vladimir Putin sent more than 400 Russian assassins to kill Ukraine’s democratically elected president Vlodymyr Zelensky – and break up his government.
Kyiv was placed under a ‘hard’ curfew for 36-hours last week, after news of the mercenaries reached its government, and its army tried to clamp down on any possible infiltrators.
A source close to the private militia called ‘The Wagner Group’ told The Times at the end of February, that up to 4,000 infiltrators have entered Ukraine since January.
The Wagner Group is however dedicated to removing President Zelensky, and ‘decapitating’ his government. Last month, the United States offered Zelensky an evacuation, and he said: “I don’t need a ride, I need more ammunition”.
This week, he addressed the House of Commons, invoking wartime leader Winston Churchill as he told MPs: “we will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets” and that “we will not lose”.
Russia’s war in Ukraine is now into its third week, with Kyiv’s resistance being much tougher than Moscow expected.
Putin and his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov have consistently accused Ukraine of being run by ‘bandits’ and ‘neo-Nazis’, and insist the war is part of a ‘denazification’ of the country.
The conflict has however also sparked a major humanitarian emergency, with more than 2m refugees fleeing the country, with Putin and his army accused of committing multiple war crimes, targeting civilian areas, and criticised for not respecting ceasefires.
The Times reported that the mercenaries are being used because Putin wants a brief pause in the fighting – in a bid to show he is negotiating with Zelensky. The source added, that no deal would however be reached and the tactic of negotiation was simply “smoke and mirrors”.
On Wednesday, Zelensky sent a delegation for a meeting with Russian diplomats on the Belarus border, and on Thursday, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, met his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, in Turkey.
The last-ditch bid for a diplomatic solution to Russia’s war against Ukraine comes as major economic powers, including Britain, the US, and European Union, ratchet up pressure on Moscow, with sanctions against its oligarchs and a ban on its oil.
Major companies including the Big Four, McDonalds and PepsiCo have also ceased trading in Russia, in opposition to the war.
A UK Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office Spokesperson said: “Russia has chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction, and must pay the price for this unprovoked aggression.”