Wagner puts bounty out on Crosetto

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 15 - The Wagner group has put out a 15 million dollar bounty out on Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, Il Foglio newspaper reported Wednesday.
    The bounty by the Russian mercenary group was flagged to the minister by Italian intelligence services about 10 days ago, it said.
    It said Crosetto has not upped his security detail.
    Earlier this week Crosetto accused Wagner of driving migrants from Africa, especially Libya, in retaliation for Rome's support for Ukraine.
    Wagner, which is best known at present for its role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, is also active in Mali, Central African Republic, Sudan, Syria and Libya, where it backs Cyrenaica strongman General Khalifa Haftar.
    Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin responded to Crosetto's claim that the Russian mercenary group was driving migration from several African countries to Italy by saying that the group did not deal with migrants.
    Prigozhin called Crosetto a 'mudak', a very insulting Russian term literally meaning testicle but used to mean dickhead or asshole.
    Crosetto had accused the pro-Kremlin private Russian company and mercenary corps of waging a "hybrid war" and boosting emigration from the African countries where it is present.
    photo: Prigozhin (L) and Crosetto (ANSA).