Once known as the “chief” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin and his mercenaries have fought in several international conflicts in recent years, extending their “tentacles” to Ukraine, Syria and especially the African continent, with an emphasis on Mali, the Central African Republic or Libya, now marching on Russian territory.
The story of this paramilitary group is told through Russian support for forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war, through the alleged presence of mercenaries in training troops protecting the government of Mali, and also through its role in trade of “diamonds” of blood” from Africa and alleged attacks on Libyan soil – such as Tajoura and Al Zawiya, according to that country’s military attorney general.
The group took a central role in the Russian offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.
Since December 2021, the influence and actions of the Wagner group are also accompanied by European Union (EU) sanctions for serious human rights violations. Mercenaries are accused of fomenting violence, plundering natural resources and intimidating civilians in conflict zones.
The group was sanctioned by the United Kingdom in 2022 after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine and had previously also been sanctioned by the United States of America for interfering in the 2016 US presidential election, which ended with the victory of Republican Donald Trump . Trump.
The US also assured that the mercenaries would have obtained “illegal profits” in Africa to finance the war in Ukraine.
Four days after the Russian invasion, on February 28, 2022, The Times newspaper revealed that about 400 members of the Wagner group had brought several thousand mercenaries from Africa to Kiev in the previous month on a mission to behead Volodymyr Zelensky’s government and other politicians, in exchange for a large financial bonus. The mercenaries will have been informed of the invasion plans in December, in the presence of the Russian forces themselves.
The predominance of this group is visible in the regions annexed by Russia on Ukrainian soil, such as Lugansk (East), where in October 2022 it established fortified lines to stop the reaction of Kiev forces, in what is already being referred to as “Prigozhin- line”. or “Wagner line”. A month later, Prigozhin set up the group’s headquarters in St. Petersburg.
One of the milestones of the Wagner group in the war in Ukraine was the long battle for Bakhmut, which dragged on for several months, culminating in the withdrawal of the mercenaries on May 25, 2023, after the capture of the city. the hands of regular Russian troops.
The battle for Bakhmut claimed the lives of about 20,000 mercenaries, as admitted by the leader of the Wagner group, amid criticism of Moscow for its lack of support and lack of coordination at the military top.
Tensions between the Wagner group and Moscow have escalated in recent weeks and have now led to an uprising, with Prigozhin claiming the occupation of Rostov, a key city in southern Russia for the Ukraine war, and calling for uprising against the military command.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin described the paramilitary group’s action as an insurgency, saying it represented a “mortal threat” to the Russian state and a betrayal that guaranteed there would be no “civil war”.
Source: DN
