UNITED NATIONS, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The United States accused Russian mercenaries on Thursday of exploiting natural resources in the Central African Republic, Mali, Sudan and elsewhere to help fund Moscow's war in Ukraine, a charge Russia rejected as "anti-Russian rage."Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the Wagner Group of mercenaries are exploiting natural resources and "these ill-gotten gains are used to fund Moscow's war machine in Africa, the Middle East, and Ukraine."Some states worry about being squeezed in the middle of an intense geopolitical rivalry.Russia has been trying to chip away at its international isolation after nearly three-quarters of the General Assembly voted to reprimand Moscow and demand it withdraw its troops within a week of its Feb. 24 invasion of neighboring Ukraine.Next week, the 193-member General Assembly is due to vote on whether to condemn Moscow's move to annex four partially occupied regions in Ukraine after staging what it called referendums."