A year has passed since the beginning of Russia’s large-scale war against Ukraine, and the Russian regular forces have failed to achieve their main goals of destroying Ukraine.
The high human losses of the Russian military forced the Kremlin to use the services of private military companies, such as Wagner Group, which use mercenaries primarily from Russian prisons, and also transfer their mercenaries from certain African countries to Ukraine.
PMC Wagner (Wagner Group) was created in 2013 in the Russian Federation to participate in armed conflicts abroad without the direct involvement of regular Russian troops. Wagner Group is a complex network of businesses and mercenary groups whose operations have been closely tied to the Russian military and intelligence community. The head of Wagner Group is Yevgeny Prigozhin, a rich businessman nicknamed “Putin’s chef” because he provided catering for the Kremlin.
The number of Wagner mercenaries is about 50,000 fighters, most of whom fight in Ukraine. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it is thought the Wagner Group had only about 5,000 fighters. They were mostly experienced former soldiers – many of them from Russia’s elite regiments and special forces. About 80% of Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine have been drawn from prisons, according to the US National Security Council. Although mercenary forces are illegal in Russia, the Wagner Group registered as a company in 2022 and opened a new headquarters in St Petersburg, Russia.
Information about the partially successful military operations of the Wagner Group in Ukraine was spread as much as possible in the Russian mass media in order to distract the Russian population from the failures of the Russian Army. The Wagner Group has been heavily involved in Russian efforts to capture the city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine. Wagner fighters have been sent into attacks in large numbers over open ground, with many killed as a result.
After Russia claimed to have captured the town of Soledar, near Bakhmut, a row broke out between its defence ministry and the Wagner Group over who should get the credit. At first, the Russian defence ministry did not mention that the Wagner Group was involved in the fighting. However, it then conceded that its mercenaries had fought.
The Wagner Group’s first operation was helping Russia annex Crimea in 2014. Its mercenaries have been some of the ‘green men’ who occupied the region.
Also, Kremlin uses Wagner to forward its foreign policy interests in Africa the Middle East, while committing widespread human rights abuses.
Since 2015, Wagner Group mercenaries have been in Syria, fighting alongside pro-government forces and guarding oilfields. There are also Wagner Group mercenaries in Libya, supporting the forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar.
The Wagner Group has operated in several African countries since 2017, often providing its clients with direct military support and related security services alongside propaganda efforts. It is estimated to have some five thousand members stationed across Africa, a combination of former Russian soldiers, convicts, and foreign nationals.
Meanwhile, the group is trying to expand its foothold in the Sahel. Wagner Group is active in Sudan and Burkina Faso, all of both countries have internal political differences.
More recently, the Wagner Group has been reportedly supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces militia with missiles during its war against the Sudanese army.
At the end of February 2023, the American newspaper THE WALL STREET JOURNAL reported that leaked U.S. intelligence has revealed that Wagner is working with Chadian rebels to oust the country’s transitional president of Chad.
After Burkina-Faso ousted French troops from his territory, signs appeared that the West African country be moving closer to Russia, including the mercenary outfit, the Wagner Group.
Prigozhin make money from Wagner Group operations abroad.
The US Treasury says Prigozhin uses its presence to enrich mining companies which he owns and has placed them under sanctions on January, 2023, designating the Wagner Group as a significant transnational criminal organization. Treasury was also designated numerous entities and individuals on multiple continents that support the Wagner Group’s military operations. On March, 2023, Lithuanian parliament recognizes Wagner Group as ‘terrorist organization. Earlier, the Wagner Group has also been sanctioned by Australia, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.
Sanctions and export controls on Russia from international coalition continue to bite, the Kremlin is desperately searching for arms and support, including through the brutal Wagner Group – to continue its barbaric war against Ukraine.
What crimes is the Wagner Group have committed?
In January, 2023, a former commander from Wagner Group claimed asylum in Norway after deserting from the mercenary outfit. He claims to have witnessed Wagner’s war crimes in Ukraine.
Wagner Group mercenaries are alleged by Ukrainian prosecutors to have killed and tortured civilians in Ukraine, alongside regular Russian troops.
The United Nations and the French government have accused Wagner mercenaries of committing rapes and robberies against civilians in the Central African Republic.
In 2020, the United States military accused Wagner mercenaries of having planted landmines and other improvised explosive devices in and around the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
The recognition of Wagner Group as a transnational criminal organization by the international community is only the beginning of the process of securing the organization’s status as an international criminal organization, cooperation with which will bring increasingly significant political and economic losses for governments, peoples of countries, and individuals who cooperate with them.
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