(AFP, Paris, 5th) According to the contract seen by AFP, the Russian mercenary organization Wagner Group signed a contract with a Chinese company last year to purchase two artificial satellites and use the intelligence provided by these satellite images to assist it in its pursuit of advancement. Russian aggression against Ukraine.
The contract was signed on November 15 last year, more than half a year after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In this war, the Wagner Group, led by its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, played a key role on the battlefield.
A European security source told AFP that the satellite imagery the Wagner Group was able to obtain was also used to assist its operations in Africa, and even came in handy during Wagner’s failed mutiny in June this year.
According to the contract, written in English and Russian and seen by AFP, Beijing Yunze Technology Company sold two high-resolution observation satellites to Nika-Frut. Nika-Frut was part of Prigozin’s business empire at the time, and the two satellites came from Changguang Satellite Technology Company, a giant in the Chinese space industry.
The price of this contract exceeds US$30 million (approximately NT$969 million), including the cost of the satellite itself and additional services.
European security sources, who requested anonymity, told AFP that the contract also includes the provision of satellite imagery on demand, which will allow Wagner to obtain satellite footage of Ukraine and some areas in Africa where the group’s mercenaries are active, including in Libya, Sudan, Central Africa and Marley.
According to this source, Wagner also ordered satellite imagery in Russia at the end of May this year to photograph the area along the road from the Ukrainian border to the capital Moscow. It was this road that Wagner’s troops captured during a brief mutiny at the end of June.
But the deal was not mentioned in the procurement contract, and AFP could not independently confirm whether the relevant images had been provided.
#Agence #FrancePresse #Chinese #companies #sell #satellites #images #Wagner #Group #fight #Ukraine
2023-10-05 14:05:02