The Russian mercenary group Wagner offers a reward of 15 million dollars (about 14.2 million euros) for the capture or elimination of the Italian Defense Minister, Guido Crosetto, the newspaper Il Foglio revealed on Wednesday.
The reward offered by the group of Russian mercenaries was reported to the minister by the Italian intelligence services about 10 days ago, according to the same newspaper, quoted by the Italian news agency ANSA.
Il Foglio also reported that Crosetto did not increase his security team despite the threat.
Earlier this week, Crosetto accused the Wagner group of expelling immigrants from Africa, especially Libya, in retaliation for Rome’s support for Ukraine.
Wagner, who is best known today for his role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is also active in Mali, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Syria and Libya.
The founder of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigojine, responded to Crosetto’s accusations that the mercenary group was driving migration from various African countries to Italy, saying the group did not deal with immigrants.
Prigojine also called Crosetto ‘mudak’, a highly offensive Russian term that literally means testicle, but often means idiot.
Crosetto accused the pro-Kremlin Russian private company of waging a “hybrid war” and pushing migration in African countries where it has a presence.
Italy is covered by the so-called Central Mediterranean route, which leaves Libya, Algeria and Tunisia towards Europe, that is, the Italian and Maltese territories.
The number of immigrant arrivals via the central Mediterranean route increased by 116% in January and February compared to 2022, according to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex).
Source: TSF
