Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said on Monday that the rising number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean is part of "hybrid warfare" waged by Russia using mercenaries as proxies on countries supporting Ukraine.
"I think it is now safe to say that the exponential increase in the migratory phenomenon departing from African shores is also, to a not insignificant extent, part of a clear strategy of hybrid warfare that the Wagner division is implementing, using its considerable weight in some African countries," Crosetto said in a statement.
Wagner is believed to be operating in several African countries, including Libya, Mali, and the Central African Republic. The group has been heavily involved in Russian efforts to capture the city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine.
"Just as the EU, NATO and the West have realised that cyber attacks were part of the global confrontation that the war in Ukraine opened up, they should now understand that the southern European front is also becoming more dangerous every day," Crosetto said.
