The Kremlin on November 3 dismissed a Wall Street Journal report that U.S. intelligence believed Russia's Wagner mercenary group plans to provide the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hizballah with an air-defense system, saying such talk was unfounded. "We have already said that, de facto, such a group [Wagner] does not exist," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. The WSJ said Wagner plans to supply the Pantsir-S1 system, known by NATO as the SA-22, which uses antiaircraft missiles and air-defense guns to intercept aircraft. Wagner Group, which was brought under Kremlin control after an aborted mutiny in June, did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.
Kremlin Dismisses Report On Wagner Plan To Give Hizballah Air Defense System
Russia's Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (file photo)