According to media reports, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has survived two assassination attempts from the band of mercenaries known as the Wagner Group. Their ruthlessness has earned them a feared reputation from Kyiv to Central Africa. But who are they, and has Putin really entrusted them with taking out a head of state?

(Pro-Russian separatists patrol with armoured vehicles in Donetsk, Ukraine 11 March 2022. Getty Images)