Operatives of the SBU Security Service of Ukraine have questioned a Russian national who has witnessed and taken direct part in the transfer of mercenaries of Russia's Wagner private military company to Syria.
The man is one of the two persons earlier detained by security officials, while attempting to illegally cross the Ukrainian border, as reported by the SBU press center.
"One of the detainees turned out to be a citizen of Ukraine, while another one is a citizen of the Russian Federation who was carrying a military ID on him that said he had been awarded for participation in a military operation in Syria," the report says.
"The former Russian military testified to the agents of the Security Service of Ukraine that during his contract service on the Varyag missile cruiser back in 2015-2017, he repeatedly took part in the transfer of Wagner mercenaries to Syria [on ships loaded] with heavy weapons and ammunition," the SBU said.
Read alsoRussian journalist who wrote about Wagner mercenaries dies under suspicious circumstancesThe SBU added that the agency continues to document crimes of Russian mercenaries in Donbas, Syria and other countries for further transfer of evidence to Ukrainian and international courts.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on October 7, chief of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Hrytsak unveiled a sensational investigation into the part Wagner played in the majority of Russian military operations on Ukrainian soil from 2014 to 2015, beginning with the occupation of Crimea. The Wagner company, according to the information provided by the SBU and published by Russian journalists, consists of between 2,000 and 5,000 well-trained professional soldiers, as well as tanks, howitzers, and Multiple Launch Rocket Systems. They train in a special, secret training ground in Rostov Oblast.
