The head of the Russian military Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced on Friday that a former general in the US Marine Corps is working for the group.
Asked for comment by Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, Prigozhin said: "There are not many Finnish citizens in the Wagner Group, about 20 people. But for obvious reasons, I cannot provide exact information about them."
And the media office of his company, "Concord", quoted him as saying, "I have a very good opinion about the Finns on the battlefield. They are fighting within a British battalion (within the framework of the Wagner Group) led by an American citizen, a former general in the Marine Corps."
Prigozhin, known as "Putin's Chef" due to his contracts with the Kremlin in the field of hospitality, is subject to European and American sanctions.
In September, he revealed for the first time that he had founded the Wagner Group in 2014 to fight in Ukraine, and acknowledged its presence in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.
For years, the Wagner Group has been accused of contributing to the realization of the Kremlin's foreign ambitions, including in Ukraine, where members of it have been fighting on the front lines in the war waged by Moscow since February.
The group, which relies on recruiting mercenaries, is also accused of contributing to the fighting in a number of conflict areas such as Syria, Libya and Africa.
And last month, the group opened its headquarters in St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city, in its first official public appearance.