Home » World » In the shadow of the war in Ukraine, thugs from the Russian “Wagner” operate

In the shadow of the war in Ukraine, thugs from the Russian “Wagner” operate

Three billboards in the Ural city of Yekaterinburg shed light on one of Russia’s most secretive organizations – private army “Wagner”commented in “The Guardian”.

“Motherland, honor, blood, bravery. WAGNER,” reads one of the posters.

Another, which locals say first appeared on the outskirts of the country’s fourth-largest city in early July, depicted three men in military uniform next to the words “Wagner2022.org.”

The billboards, which can be seen in several Russian cities, are part of Wagner’s efforts to recruit fighters to join its ranks in Ukraine.

They also testify to the transformation the group has undergone since Moscow began its invasion more than five months ago, from a secretive mercenary organization shrouded in mystery to an increasingly public extension of Russia’s military efforts in Ukraine.

“It seems that they have decided that they will no longer try to hide their existence. Now everyone knows who they are“, says Denis Korotkov, a former journalist from “Novaya Gazeta” and a long-time observer of “Wagner”.

The private army was created in 2014 to support pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. The US and other countries say it was financed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a powerful businessman closely linked to Vladimir Putin, who is subject to Western sanctions. Prigogine denies any ties to the group.

On paper, the private army “Wagner” does not exist – there is no company registration, tax returns or organizational chart. Russia’s top leadership, including Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly denied any ties between Wagner and the state.

Private military armies are officially banned in Russiaand the semi-legal framework within which the mercenaries operated meant that family members of fallen Wagner soldiers were often forced to remain silent when seeking information about their loved ones.

And although Wagner gradually launched a PR campaign, and companies linked to Prigogine financed propaganda films that praised the deeds of the “military instructors” in Africa, any mention of the group remained largely taboo in the public sphere. Journalists like Korotkov, who investigate the group, are harassed for their work.

However, Russia’s war in Ukraine brought the group out of obscurity.

At the end of March, British intelligence claimed that around 1,000 Wagner mercenaries had gone to Ukraine. The group’s role in the war appears to have grown significantly after Moscow shifted its efforts to the east of the country after his failure to capture the capital Kyiv.

Wagner is believed to have played a central role in the capture of Popasna in May and Lisichansk in June, two strategically important cities that Russia largely razed to the ground during its seizure of eastern Luhansk Oblast. On Wednesday, British intelligence reported that “Wagner” helped in the takeover of the giant power plant “Vukhlehirsk” in the eastern part of Ukraine.

As Wagner’s role in Ukraine grew, so did his public image at home.

In May, “Wagner” received what appeared to be his first recognition in state news when a correspondent mentioned him on a national broadcast, saying that the army had “its own orchestra” in Ukraine.

“Wagner” supporters and members often refer to it as “the orchestra”, a reference to the German composer Richard Wagner. The alleged founder of the group, Dmitry Utkin is associated with the extreme right and is believed to have named it after Hitler’s favorite composer.

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British intelligence also suggests that Prigozhin, who was photographed in eastern Ukraine in April, was recently named a Hero of the Russian Federation in recognition of the group’s role in the invasion.

Last week, Wagner received his biggest recognition yet, when Komsomolskaya Pravda, the country’s most widely read tabloid, ran a front-page story about Putin’s private army storming the Volehirsk power plant.

“Wagner” has publicly boasted of his involvement in the war, posting a message on his website saying: “Join us to liberate all of Donbass! Embark on your first military campaign with living battle legends!”

It seems that “Wagner” has created and regional recruiting centers of militants in more than 20 Russian cities by posting their phone numbers on popular social media sites linked to the military group.

The ads say Wagner offers soldiers more than 240,000 rubles (€3,814) a month, several times more than regular soldiers’ salaries.

The Guardian contacted several of the recruiters whose numbers were listed. Some of them use the mercenary group’s symbols as their profile pictures on WhatsApp and Telegram, and none deny their connection to “Wagner”.


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It is currently known that Putin’s private army does not recruit fighters from NATO member countries or Ukraine.

Military analysts say Russia’s reliance on groups like Wagner shows the extent to which the country’s regular army, which has lost up to a third of its combat strength, is struggling to achieve its goals in Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine and Russia’s military setbacks also appear to have accelerated Wagner’s cooperation with the Defense Department. Marat Gabidulin, a former Wagner commander, told the Guardian in an earlier interview that his soldiers have worked closely with the Russian ministry of defense when they fought in Syria.

These relations seem to have deepened since the start of the war in Ukraine. According to an investigation by the independent publication Meduza, the Russian Ministry of Defense has largely taken control of the networks that “Wagner” used to recruit new soldiers.

And while “Wagner’s” role in the invasion made the group popular, some say its latest attempt to recruit new members threatens to lower its general military standards.

According to the investigative news site iStories, Wagner resorted to recruiting prisoners by offering them high wages and potential amnesties in exchange for six months of service in Ukraine.


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The Institute for the Study of War reports on conscripts in Ukraine


“Wagner is lowering its recruitment standards and hiring convicts and previously blacklisted individuals, potentially affecting the effectiveness of the Russian military,” the UK Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence briefing last year. a week.

“Even before the conflict, less than 30% of the soldiers in the Wagner they were true professionals“says Gabidulin, Wagner’s former commander. “Now the group will consist mostly of a bunch of amateurs … The circus that is in Russia continues.”

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