The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group says it has seized “all military installations” in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and has threatened to march on the capital if top Russian military figures don’t they meet him.
Yevgeny Prigozhin’s announcement caused the fury of President Vladimir Putinwho called it “a stab in the back” and vowed to punish those who had “betrayed” Russia.
Prigozhin says his aim “is not a military coup but a march for justice” and comes after the exchange of accusations with the Russian military leaders will intensify dramatically.
The Wagner Group is a private army of mercenaries who has been fighting alongside the Russian regular army in the Ukraine. It is estimated that there are tens of thousands of Wagner troops there.
They played an important role in the long and costly fight to take the city of Bakhmut from the Ukrainian forces.
The group describes itself as a “private military company” but the Russian government had recently been taking steps that were seen as an attempt to control it.
- “It is a stab in the back”: Putin accuses the leader of the Wagner Group of inciting an “armed rebellion” and reinforces security
And, on June 23, Prigozhin claimed that Russia’s justification for its war in Ukraine was a lie and just an excuse for Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to promote himself.
What exactly is the Wagner Group and how many mercenaries does it have?
The Wagner Group (officially called PMC Wagner) was first identified in 2014when he was backing pro-Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.
At that time it was a secret organization, which operated mainly in Africa and Middle Eastand is believed to have numbered only around 5,000 fighters, mostly veterans of Russia’s elite regiments and special forces.
Since then, it has grown considerably.
“It is almost certain that Wagner now commands 50,000 fighters in Ukraine and it has become a key component of the invasion,” the UK Ministry of Defense said in January.
And he added that the organization began recruiting large numbers of mercenaries in 2022 because Russia was having trouble recruiting men for the regular army.
However, the number of soldiers summoned by Prigozhin on Friday was close to 25,000since around 20,000 died during the conflict in Ukraine.
By comparison, it is estimated that the Russian army has about 800,000 active soldiers. It is estimated that this force had at one time over a million soldiers, but it is believed that they lost around 220,000 during the war. It is believed that Russia has other 250,000 soldiers in reserve.
Around the 80% of the troops of Wagner in Ukraine have come out of prisonsthe US National Security Council said earlier this year.
Although mercenary forces are illegal in Russia, the Wagner Group registered as a company in 2022 and opened a new headquarters in St. Petersburg.
“He is openly recruiting in Russian cities, on billboards, and branded as a “patriotic organization” by the Russian media, says Samuel Ramani of the Royal United Services Institute think tank.
What does the Wagner Group do in Ukraine?
The Wagner Group was heavily involved in the Russian capture of the city of Bakhmutin eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian troops say Wagner’s soldiers were sent to attack en masse in the open field, and many were killed as a result.
How was the Wagner Group born?
At first, the Ministry of Defense did not mention that the Wagner Group was involved in the fighting.
However, he later praised his mercenaries for playing a “brave and selfless” role.
A BBC investigation into the Wagner Group highlighted the alleged involvement of a Former Russian Army officer Dmitri Utkin.
Veteran of Russia’s wars in Chechnya, believed to have been the first field commander of Wagner and who named the group after its former radio distinctive call.
“Putin’s cook”
The current boss is Yevgeny Prigozhin, a wealthy businessman nicknamed “Putin’s cook” because before he came to run the Wagner Group his companies were in charge of providing catering to the Kremlin.
“The first operation of the Wagner Group was help Russia annex Crimea in 2014says Tracey German, Professor of Conflict and Security at King’s College London.
It is believed that in the weeks leading up to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, Wagner carried out “false flag” attacks to give the Kremlin a pretext to invade.
What has been Wagner’s confrontation with Russia’s military commanders?
In recent months, Prigozhin has repeatedly accused Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Ukraine Army Chief Valery Gerasimov of incompetence and deliberately de-supply Wagner units fighting in the Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry recently said that “volunteer formations” in Ukraine must sign direct contracts with it.
A measure that is considered as a government attempt to gain more control over it.
Prigozhin issued an angry statement declaring that his forces would boycott the contracts.
Where else does the Wagner Group operate?
Since 2015, mercenaries from the Wagner Group have been in Syria, fighting alongside pro-government forces and protecting oil fields.
There are also mercenaries Wagner Group in Libya, supporting forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar.
The Central African Republic (CAR) has invited Wagner to protect the diamond mines, and is believed to be protecting gold mines in Sudan.
All these countries have a common element, they are places where Moscow has interests.
Experts say that its mercenaries can be hired for deployments in war zones or more specific actions such as providing security or carrying out targeted attacks.
how does it work the group?
Videos, which circulate mainly in Russia, and different reports from investigative teams account for the brutality to which the methods they use can reach his mercenaries.
As seen in a home film, its members can torture for hours and even decapitate their victim.
Russian media and analyst investigations have described participants in the group’s actions as ultranationalists of extreme right with brutal methods.
Paul Stronski, director of the Russia and Eurasia program of the Carnegie Fund for International Peace, told BBC Mundo that these groups “act as multipliers of combat forces, arms dealers, trainers of military and local security personnel.”
The expert indicates that although the Wagner Group is not the only private military company originating in Russia with these characteristics, it is the best known.
And find antecedents of his model in the Balkan War at the end of the last century and even in the Russian volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.
Add that its military deployment capacity fluctuates hundreds to thousands when in combat zones.
The researcher indicates that Russia has a long experience in the use of these groups in recent decades.
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See original article on BBC