A kyiv Army spokesman said hundreds of members of the Wagner paramilitary group would be returning to eastern Ukraine. During the day, Moscow accused the US and UK intelligence services of being behind the recent Ukrainian attack on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
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A Ukrainian military spokesman quoted by the Reuters news agency stated this Wednesday, September 27, that several hundred fighters from the Wagner mercenary group had returned to territories in eastern Ukraine to continue fighting on the Russian side.
The members of the paramilitary group played a key role in the capture of the city of Bakhmut last May, after months of intense battles for control of this city, in what have been considered the bloodiest combats in the 19 months of war.
The group’s eventual role in the war has been uncertain since the Wanger rebellion against Moscow and especially after the death of its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on August 23 in a crash of his private plane.
Moscow assures that kyiv received help from London and Washington to attack Crimea
Russian diplomacy assured that the secret services of the United States and the United Kingdom were behind the coordination of last Friday’s attack on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea fleet, in Crimea, a Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia.
The attack was “executed at the request of the American and British intelligence services” and coordinated with them, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
“There is no doubt that the attack was planned in advance with the use of Western intelligence, NATO satellite equipment and reconnaissance aircraft,” the official added.
A day earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry had released an image showing Black Sea Fleet commander Viktor Sokolov, whom Ukraine has claimed was dead. This Wednesday, a television channel dependent on the Russian Ministry of Defense broadcast new images of the soldier.
US makes new call for reconstruction of Ukraine
Penny Pritzker, United States special representative for the economic reconstruction of Ukraine, stated this Wednesday in Brussels that the reconstruction of the country cannot wait for the end of the conflict.
“The long-term effort to revive the Ukrainian economy must happen now, must begin now, even in the midst of an ongoing war and fighting,” he said.
Barack Obama’s former Commerce Minister acknowledged that the cost will be “substantial.” According to World Bank estimates, the invaded country would need more than $400 billion to get back on its feet.
Pritzker reported having initiated contacts with about thirty companies that would be interested in investing in Ukraine.
With AFP and Reuters
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