Zalichev served as a sniper in 2014.
The press secretary of the Ukrainian SBU Security Service's chief, Olena Gitlianska, has said two-time champion of the Russian shotgun practical shooting competitions (duel) Alexander Zalichev has been involved in terrorist activities in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.
"In 2014, Zalichev was a sniper with the Wagner private military company," she wrote on Facebook on Friday, February 2.
Read alsoSBU releases intercepted comms between PMC Wagner chief, Russian army General on Donbas incursion
The Wagner's training base is located in Russia's Krasnodar Krai.
According to Hrytsak, "this project of the Russian special services allows the Kremlin's politicians to confidently state before the public and the international community: 'They [Russian military] are not there [in Ukraine]' or 'We have not sent them there.'"
Russian citizens account for 95% of PMC Wagner members, the SBU said. Ukraine's security service also identified about 40 Ukrainian citizens who were trained for subversive activity in Ukraine. What is more, the SBU has information that there are about 100 fighters from a Balkan country who are related to PMC Wagner.
In addition, the SBU has video evidence of PMC Wagner's participation in the seizure of Luhansk airport in 2014.