MOSCOW

The head of Russia’s Wagner private military company (PMC) claimed Thursday that people from Afghanistan are fighting as part of the group in Ukraine.

In a statement on Telegram, Yevgeny Prigozhin said there is an artillery unit that operates US M-777 howitzers and works with Javelin anti-tank tank missile systems that were either bought from the Ukrainian military or were captured in battles.

"Yes indeed, the Afghan fighters of the Wagner PMC work with us in small numbers. Now there is an artillery unit, which at one time was trained to work on American artillery systems, M-777 howitzers, plus it works with Javelin anti–tank missile systems, which we manage to buy from Ukrainian units, or capture," he said.