Russia Mercenaries – For years, Wagner’s mercenaries have lived in the shadows. Now they are in the spotlight of the war in Ukraine.
It is reported and believed that Wagner Group does not officially exist.
The now globally infamous private military contractor (PMC), which has operated in nearly 30 countries and taken on a major role in the war in Ukraine, is not actually a registered company in Russia or anywhere else.
In fact, PMCs like Wagner are illegal in Russia. And yet Wagner Group has been an essential and controversial piece of the battlefield equation for the Kremlin in its war against Ukraine.
Despite Wagner Group fighting in Ukraine on behalf of Russia, the Russian government has denied any connection to Wagner and rarely acknowledged its existence.
For the Russian state, Wagner Group’s secrecy was the point: Its mercenaries could be deployed anywhere, with a minimum of accountability and a maximum of plausible deniability.
Some 1,000 mercenaries, including senior leaders of the group, were deployed to Ukraine in March, according to Western officials.
Since then, they’ve suffered heavy losses but also recruited heavily, making it difficult to know their current strength.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, an oligarch with close connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin shocked many by issuing a statement on Sept. 26 saying, for the first time, that he had founded Wagner Group in 2014.
There are now videos circulating on Russian social media that have shown Prigozhin in distinctly Putin-esque “man of action” mode, meeting with troops on the front lines.
Another video that emerged in mid-September showed him recruiting inmates at a prison, promising convicts their release in exchange for a six month tour of duty in Ukraine.
Wagner is not registered itself but It is believed that the group is financially supported by an octopus-like combination of several companies.
The organization seems to have evolved out of several private security companies including one, the Slavonic Corps, which was contracted by the Syrian government in 2013 for an ill-fated mission to help the country’s beleaguered military retake oil facilities from the Islamic State.
The PMC Wagner Group is becoming a super power in the making.
Lately, the group has been getting a lot more visible.
As Russia’s regular military forces began to suffer heavy losses in Ukraine, Wagner began recruiting more openly, posting billboards, social media ads and slick videos promising aspiring fighters glamour, adventure and even an “unforgettable summer with new friends.”
Russia’s state-run media outlets are now openly discussing and celebrating Wagner’s activities, not just in Ukraine but around the world.
