Kremlin rejects claims Wagner delivered arms to Hezbollah

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday rejected claims that the Wagner paramilitary group transferred air defense systems to the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.

If the U.S. has concerns in this regard it may use existing military communication channels with Russian counterparts and ask them directly, Peskov told a news conference in Moscow.

"De facto such a group (Wagner) does not exist, so all these speculations as a rule are baseless, groundless ... there are emergency communication channels, if there are any feasible concerns, they may be always brought to our military," he said.

Peskov refused to comment on reports that Pavel Prigozhin, the son of former Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, now leads the group.

Russian media had reported that Wagner resumed recruitment, with Pavel taking over as leader following his father's death in a plane crash in August.