Ukraine-Russia war: what the “transparent” mercenary group Wagner is doing in Ukraine and other countries
- writing
- BBC News World
photo credit, Telegram Group @RSOTM
Member of Wagner in the Donbas region.
The governor of Ukraine, Serhii Haydai, said on Sunday that Ukrainian forces have struck one of the bases of the opaque Russian mercenary group “Wagner” in Luhansk, in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Haydai said that the hotel where one of the headquarters of the group is located in Kadiivka, Luhansk, was attacked and there were many casualties on the Russian side. The BBC was unable to independently verify the presence of the Wagner Group.
In 2014, Wagner’s group appeared in Donbass to support pro-Russian separatists to force Ukrainian forces to withdraw.
British military intelligence estimates that at least 1,000 mercenaries are stationed in the area.
The group has recently been active in countries such as Ukraine and Syria, as well as some African countries, and has been repeatedly accused of war crimes and human rights abuses.
What exactly is Wagner Group doing in Ukraine?
Wagner Group mercenaries are alleged to have been involved in a series of false flag attacks in eastern Ukraine intended to pretext an attack on Russia.
Tracy German, professor of conflict and security at King’s College London, notes that Wagner arrived in the region in 2014.
“Nearly 1,000 of his mercenaries supported pro-Russian armed groups in the struggle for control of Lugansk and Donetsk regions,” the report said.
photo credit, Serhiy Haidai
The governor of Ukraine, Serhiy Haydai, said that the hotel in Luhansk’s Kadiivka region was the headquarters of the Wagner Group and was shot down by Ukrainian forces.
Ukrainian prosecutors say that three mercenaries of the “Wagner Group” committed war crimes in the village of Motijhin near Kyiv in April during joint operations with Russian troops.
Prosecutors said the war crimes included murder and torture. Two of Wagner’s mercenaries come from Belarus and the other from Russia.
German intelligence suspects that Wagner’s mercenaries were also involved in the killing of civilians in Bucha during the withdrawal of Russian troops from the vicinity of Kyiv.
Now, according to Dr Samuel Ramani of the Royal United Services Institute, members of the Wagner group are fighting alongside regular troops in the Donbas region.
“Wagner’s group played an active role in the capture of cities such as Lugansk, Popasna and Severodonetsk,” he notes.
“Today, it is an unofficial, unofficial part of the Russian army, and there are no casualties.
Ukrainian forces said last June that they had successfully attacked the Wagner Group’s base in Poposna, Luhansk region, as well as other bases in neighboring Stakhanov region.
As a result of the BBC’s investigation, 51-year-old former Russian army officer Dmitry Utkin was allegedly involved in the group. He is believed to have founded Wagner and named it after his old nickname in the army.
Utkin is a veteran of the Chechen wars, a former special forces officer and a lieutenant colonel in the GRU, the Russian military intelligence service.
Professor German says the Wagner Group started fighting in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea.
“His mercenaries would be some of the ‘little green men’ who occupied the area,” he said.
“Leading a mercenary army is against the Russian constitution,” he adds. “But Wagner provides the government with a deniable force. Wagner can get involved abroad and the Kremlin can say, ‘It has nothing to do with us.'”
Some suggest that Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, secretly funded and controlled the Wagner Group.
Mercenary sources told the BBC that its training base in Mol’kino in southern Russia is next to a Russian army base.
Russia has always denied that Wagner had any connection with the state.
photo credit, Reuters
Visitors to the recently opened “Wagner Group” facility in St. Petersburg.
The BBC investigation, which identified links between Utkin and the group, also shed light on the role of oligarch Yevgeny Prigogine, known as “Putin’s leader” because he appeared as a Kremlin restaurateur and caterer.
Many of Prigogine’s companies are currently under US sanctions for their “malign political and economic influence around the world.” He has always denied any connection with Wagner’s group.
In September 2022, a recording of Prigogine trying to recruit Russian prisoners to fight in the Wagner Group in Ukraine was released.
Prigogine told the prisoners that they would be compensated if they joined the group.
Where is information about Wagner Group activities?
In 2015, the Wagner Group began operations in Syria, fighting alongside pro-government forces and protecting oil fields.
It has been operating in Libya since 2016, where it supports forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar. Up to 1,000 Wagner mercenaries are believed to have participated in Haftar’s 2019 advance to the official government of Tripoli.
In 2017, the Wagner group was invited to the Central African Republic (CAR) to protect diamond mines. It is reported that he also works in Sudan, where he protects gold mines.
photo credit, Reuters
Yevgeny Prigozhin (left) helps Vladimir Putin at a party near Moscow.
In September 2022, a recording of Prigogine trying to recruit Russian prisoners to fight in the Wagner Group in Ukraine was released.
Prigogine told the prisoners that their sentences would be reduced if they joined the group.
photo credit, Telegram group @RSOTM
Wagner’s Miembros in Syria.
In 2020, the US Treasury said that Wagner “acted as a front” for some of Prighozin’s mining companies in these countries, such as M Invest and Lobaye Invest, and imposed sanctions against them.
Recently, the West African government of Mali requested the Wagner Group to provide security against Islamist armed groups. His arrival in 2021 influenced France’s decision to withdraw its troops from the country.
Colonel Ibrahim Traore, who took power in Burkina Faso after a military coup, has said his government is ready to work with the Wagner Group in the fight against Islamic State militants who control much of the country.
Mr. Ramani claims that, apart from Ukraine, the Wagner Group has a total of about 5,000 mercenaries worldwide.
And he explains that since the start of the war in Ukraine, the group has become more social.
“It openly recruits in Russian cities, on billboards, and the Russian media presents it as a patriotic organization.”
What crimes Vthere isgner committed outside of Ukraine?
Both the United Nations and the French government have accused Wagner’s mercenaries of rape and robbery against civilians in the Central African Republic, and the European Union has imposed sanctions on them in response.
In 2020, the US military also accused Wagner’s mercenaries of planting mines and other explosive devices around Tripoli, the capital of Libya.
“The irresponsible use of mines and booby traps by members of the Wagner Group is harming innocent civilians,” said the rear admiral in charge of intelligence at the US Army Africa Command.
