The Russian Presidency, the Kremlin, on Friday denied a Wall Street Journal report in which it said that the United States had intelligence information indicating that a group… Wagner Russian special military intends to supply the group Hizb allah Lebanese with air defense equipment.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to the report, which quoted American officials – whom he did not name – as saying that US intelligence believes that Wagner is planning such a step, “We have already said that de facto this group (Wagner) does not exist.”
“All this speculation is baseless,” Peskov said of the report, adding, “There are emergency communication channels between the Russian and American armies, and if there are real concerns about something, they can always transfer them to our army.”
The newspaper said that Wagner intends to supply Hezbollah with the “Pantsir S-1” system known to NATO (NATO) called the SA-22, and uses anti-aircraft missiles and air defense weapons to intercept aircraft.
The newspaper quoted an American official – whose name was not mentioned – that Washington did not confirm that the system was actually sent, but added that American officials are monitoring the discussions between Wagner and Hezbollah.
She said that the “Pantsir S-1” system would be delivered to Hezbollah via Syria, where Russia supported the head of the Syrian regime. Bashar al-Assad Facing the revolution there since 2015.
The Kremlin brought the group – which was funded by the Russian government – under its control after a brief mutiny last June carried out by its former leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin have repeatedly said that Wagner has no legitimate basis under the law banning mercenary groups inside Russia, despite Putin appearing in late September meeting with one of the group’s former senior leaders.
The final fate of the Wagner Group is not yet clear. When asked about unconfirmed Russian reports that Prigozhin’s son, Pavel, became the leader of the group, Peskov said, “This is not a question directed to us, nor is this our topic, and we have no information in this regard.”
