Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of a Russian mercenary group who is sometimes referred to as "Putin’s chef," has reportedly arrived in eastern Ukraine to oversee the private military force.

The Times reports that Prigozhin is thought to have been ordered by the Kremlin to oversee the Wagner Group’s activities in Donbas after he was photographed with a far-right member of Russia’s Duma who is known to be at the front lines in Ukraine.

The group, which has close links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been accused of multiple atrocities in central Africa and the Middle East. Last month in Mali, witnesses claimed that mercenaries with the Wagner Group working alongside soldiers killed hundreds of civilians in a town in the country’s center.

The organization’s mercenaries were spotted in Ukraine earlier this month thanks to their distinctive insignia showing a grinning skull with the words "PMC Wagner Group."

The website InfoResist claims that Prigozhin was sent to oversee the "Wagnerites" due to the group's lack of success so far.

The report adds that the mercenary group will attempt to capture a Ukrainian leader. Prigozhin was recently photographed alongside United Russia party member Vitaly Milonov, who told information portal URA.ru that Prigozhin "is a true patriot" who "walks around Donbas calmly, without being accompanied by a crowd of guards, although he is located where all the heat is, on the line of contact."

• British Intelligence Says Russia's Wagner Group Deployed to Eastern Ukraine
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