Soldiers from a private US security company with a record of alleged atrocities in Iraq are supporting Ukraine’s security forces in the volatile east of the country, the German newspaper Bild reported Sunday.
The report, citing Germany’s federal intelligence agency BND, said 400 of the heavily-armed men employed by the group formerly known as Blackwater were deployed in the vicinity of Lugansk where pro-Russian separatists are seeking self-rule.
The BND declined to comment on the report, while the security company -- now known as Academi -- dismissed similar reports in March.
Bild reported that according to a BND assessment, US intelligence services had knowledge of the covert involvement of the private soldiers in Ukraine. BND representatives relayed the information to Germany’s federal chancellory on April 29, Bild said.
Academi was known as Blackwater during its time as key security services contractor to the US government in the war it led to oust Iraq’s president Saddam Hussein in 2003.
It was later implicated in the killing of unarmed civilians and arms smuggling in Iraq.
The company, which was awarded a similar US government contract in Afghanistan, also provides security services to companies and other governments.
On May 2, Moscow accused the West of complicity in Ukraine’s military assault on separatists in Sloviansk and suggested US mercenaries were supporting the army.