Kremlin-backed Wagner mercenaries 'ordered to kill Ukraine’s president'

More than 400 Russian mercenaries are operating in Kyiv with orders from Moscow to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government, according to a report in The Times.

The Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary group under western sanctions, flew in mercenaries from Africa five weeks ago to undertake the mission, the UK newspaper said.

Information about their targets reached the Ukrainian government on Saturday morning and hours later Kyiv declared a 36-hour curfew to sweep the capital for Russian saboteurs, warning civilians they risked being “liquidated” if they stepped outside.

Wagner, which has operated in countries inclusing Syria and Libya, has been linked to a powerful ally of President Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin.