PMC Wagner releases statement denying participation in Ukraine operation

Private military company (PMC) Wagner released a statement regarding the participation of PMC Wagner fighters in the special military operation in Ukraine.

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/100064359595429/posts/313098054178845 by Joint Forces Task Force, CC BY 4.0

According to the statement that appeared on Razgruzka Wagner Telegram channel, there are no Wagner fighters in the border area of ​​the Kursk region.

"PMC Wagner is not currently participating in the special military operation. If the situation changes, an additional announcement will be made," the statement said.

Wagner fighters serve in Africa and Belarus, the statement also said.

"There are no Wagner soldiers in the Russian National Guard, the Russian Ministry of Defense, or anywhere else," PMC representatives explained.

Earlier it was reported that Wagner fighters allegedly went to Kursk region.

On August 8, when fierce battles began in the Kursk border area after the invasion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, many news agencies reported that PMC Wagner fighters arrived in the Kursk region to show resistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Military correspondent Yegor Guzenko posted a video on Telegram that allegedly showed Wagner fighters in the back of a truck. The video shows armed camouflaged men saying that they were going to fight in the Kursk region. Their faces were hidden.

Afterwards, the council of commanders of the military company announced that Wagner members were ready to come to the aid of the Russian army. PMC representatives noted that they would come at a word, "as it has always been."

"From the very first day, from the very first combat mission, we had only one goal: to defend the interests of the Motherland, to help Russia prosper and to protect the Russian people. We are ready to stand for this to the last drop of blood," PMC Wagner said.

Details

The Wagner Group is a Russian private military company (PMC) controlled until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Putin. The Wagner Group has used infrastructure of the Russian Armed Forces. Evidence suggests that Wagner has been used as a proxy by the Russian government, allowing it to have plausible deniability for military operations abroad, and hiding the true casualties of Russia's foreign interventions.