Russia-Ukraine war latest: Russia strikes more than 40 Ukrainian towns as heavy fighting rages

Pro-Kremlin businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin has admitted that he founded Russia’s notorious Wagner mercenary group in 2014.

Mr Prigozhin, a key ally of President Vladimir Putin, had previously taken legal action against people who accused him of being behind the group.

“Then I flew to one of the training grounds and did it myself. I cleaned the old weapons myself, figured out the bulletproof vests myself and found specialists who could help me with this. From that moment, on May 1 2014, and a group of patriots was born, which later acquired the name BTG ‘Wagner’,” he was quoted as saying by Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency.

“Exclusively thanks to their courage and courage, the liberation of the Lugansk airport and many other territories became possible, and the fate of the LPR and the DPR changed radically,” he said, referring to battles the group was involved in between 2014 and 2015.