Russia's Wagner says it is not fighting in Ukraine

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Wagner mercenary group said on Monday that it only operated in Africa and in Russian ally Belarus, and its soldiers were no longer fighting in the Ukraine war.

Ukraine on Sunday called on Belarus to pull back what it described as significant forces deployed along their shared border. It said these included Belarus special forces and former Wagner mercenaries.

In a rare statement, the group said that its employees only worked in Africa and Belarus.

"There are no divisions of the company in the Russian National Guard, in the ranks of the Russian Ministry of Defense, or anywhere else," it said.

Wagner "is not participating in the Special Military Operation at this stage", it said, using the Kremlin's preferred term for the war in Ukraine. Reuters was not able to verify that assertion.

"In case of a change in the situation, it will be announced," Wagner said.

Wagner's role in Africa, for example in support of the military junta in Mali, is a source of concern to the West. In Ukraine, the group was heavily engaged in the earlier part of Russia's war effort, especially the long battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut which it finally captured in May 2023.

The following month, its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin led a short-lived mutiny against Russia's defence establishment. He and other senior Wagner figures were killed in a plane crash on Aug. 23, 2023.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)