He decided together with his parents men to challenge i vertices military Russians occupying Rostov and calling to revolt the population. To unleash the coup attempt wanted by Yevgeny Prigozhin (pictured), head of the mercenaries of the Wagner at the forefront of Ukraineis the clash now come to a head with the army of Mosca. Prigozhin, hitherto a close ally of Putinstated that when the full-scale invasion began the conflict situation in the Donbass was no different than in recent years and there was no “crazy aggression” by Kievwhich – he stated again – was not preparing to attack the Russia together with the Nato. Second Prigozhin therefore, speaking of an imminent Ukrainian offensive, the Russian Defense Ministry, or rather its archenemy Sergey Shoiguhas “deceived” both the company and Putin.
The men, the fronts and Wagner’s relationship with the Kremlin – But how many men can he count on? In January he was thought to have 5,000 fighters in Ukraineinstead it turned out that he had at least ten times as many, mostly former inmateswith which he tries to make a change to the conflict in Ukrainewithout abandoning the open fronts in Middle East e Africa. Il Wagner groupaccused of heinous war crimes, has so far been the privileged lever that the Kremlin he used to extend his influenza geopolitics, military and also economic in the world. Even mixing war and business, as it became clear when the oligarch Prigozhinpatron and commander of the militia, took over the front of Bakhmutin Donbass, because the region also offers economically strategic mines of salt and gypsum.
Founded, according to a survey carried out by the Bbcin 2013 by Dmitri Utkin – former service officer of military espionage and of the special corps in the wars in Chechnya who would choose the name of Wagner for his passion for the great German musician shared with Adolf Hitler -, the private militia made its debut in the operation covered in Donbass e Crimea in 2014, shortly after the street revolution Maidan and the fall of the pro-Russian government a Kiev. Nicknamed ‘little green men’ because they lack insignia and badges on camouflages, his men did the bulk of military work, in support of local pro-Russian militias. Since then the militiamen of the Wagner they have become the hidden arm of imperialism russoextending operations into strategic theaters such as the Syriain support of the troops of Damascus; the Libyaalongside the general Haftar; in Maliwhere they fight jihadist formations and ‘guard’ gold mines, such as the diamond mines in Central African Republicin Venezuela and even in Madagascar e Sri Lankafor a total – according to an analysis by ISPI – of 27 different points of the globe.
In Africa the mercenaries of Wagner they are accused of murderstorture e rape to the detriment of civilians, who have been sanctioned by the EU. Andrey Medvedeva former militia commander who escaped a few days ago in Norway after he defected, he spoke of the “summary executions” committed in the Ukrainian theater, for which Wagner it recruited thousands of convicts in exchange for freedom and wages up to five times that of regular Russian soldiers. German intelligence attributes to Wagner i massacres committed at the beginning of the war a loofah. Private militias being officially prohibited by law in Russia and “not being officially part of the Russian state”, the mercenaries Wagner “They’re hard for people to criminalize abusecost less to maintain and are seen as more expendable than Russian soldiers” and “are therefore being used for missions dangerous on the front line or as a force multiplier in pursuing Russian interests on several fronts”, writes ISPI. But the Ukrainian war brought the Wagner to the attention of the world, with the result that it becomes more and more difficult for the Kremlin perform covert or false flag actions and thus hide their existence and proximity. The militia as we said they are prohibited, but the Wagner has recently opened an office in St.Pietroburgo, where Russian security forces conducted a raid today. AND Prigozhinafter eight years in denial, admitted last September that he was the commander. The fate of the tsar and his trusted ‘chef’ are now publicly intertwined. “We criminals? Finally, now the Wagner and the Americans are colleagues”, declared the oligarch months ago, who had the cheek to write an open letter to the spokesman of the US National Security Council John Kirby to ask him to list what crimes his men allegedly committed in Ukraine.
What does Wagner do in the world – In Syria the paramilitary group is reported for the first time in 2015, after the beginning of the Russian military intervention alongside Damascus in the civil war. In the country they participate in various combat missions against the areas controlled by the rebels and against the ISIS cells at least until the end of 2021. In Libya Russian paramilitaries would be present in Cyrenaicain the east of the country, since 2018 to support the general Khalifa Haftar in the civil war against the government of Tripolirecognized by the international community, and in the conquest of the southern regions Libyans. In 2019-2020 Wagner’s militiamen helped the self-styled Libyan National Army of Haftar in the assault, then failed, to the capital, making his men arrive about ten km from the city center. The Malione of the main countries of departure and transit for sub-Saharan migrants, scene of two coups d’état in 2020 and 2021, broke the alliance in 2022 anti-jihadist of the Sahel countriesthis G5 and supported by France, and defense agreements with Paris leading to the withdrawal of the French mission Barchan and the closure of the European one Swords. Since then the military junta has in fact moved closer to the Russia and opened the doors to Wagner groupr to fight i Islamic militants. Russian mercenaries are also accused of killing several hundred civilians. Even the Burkina Faso is following the same path as the Mali. In Central African Republic the men of Wagner have been linked to the 2018 killing of three Russian journalists (Orkhan DzhemalAlexander Rastorguyev e Kirill Radchenko) who were investigating the presence of the mercenaries in Central Africa. They are accused of having participated in numerous massacres perpetrated jointly with the regular armed forces of the country. The mercenaries were then sent in 2017 in Sudan to militarily support the forces of the then president Omar al-Bashir against the Sud Sudan and to protect the mines of orouranium and diamonds. The following year they would be sent to the Sudanese region of Darfur to train the military and would help the government suppress the protests that overthrew al Bashir.