Ndassima is a gold mine in Ouaka prefecture in Central African Republic . It is the nation's only industrialized gold mine.
121-569: It was taken from the legal owners, Axmin Inc. , during the civil war in 2013 before being seized by Wagner Group around 2017. Ndassima is one of the largest mines in the Central African Republic, covering an area of 138 square miles. Prior to foreign ownership, the mine was dug by hand. Central African Republic based, Toronto-registered Axmin was given granted a license to operate the mine in 2010. UPC rebels took control of
242-469: A Russian MoD facility, Molkino ( Молькино ), near the remote village of Molkin , Krasnodar Krai . The barracks at the base are officially not linked to the Russian MoD, with court documents describing them as a children's vacation camp. According to a report published by Russian monthly Sovershenno Sekretno [ ru ] , the organisation that hired personnel for Wagner did not have
363-588: A Spetsnaz GRU unit, and fought in the First and Second Chechen wars. Many sources name Utkin as a founder and the first commander of Wagner. Reportedly, Utkin was an admirer of Nazi Germany and the group was named from his alias "Wagner". The European Union sanctions against the Wagner Group name Utkin as its founder and leader. It is reported that Utkin was Wagner's military commander, responsible for overseeing its military operations, while Prigozhin
484-470: A neo-Nazi state , committing genocide against Russian speakers , developing nuclear and biological weapons , and being influenced by Satanism . Russian propaganda also accuses NATO of controlling Ukraine and building up military infrastructure in Ukraine to threaten Russia . Some of this disinformation has been spread by Russian web brigades . It has been widely rejected as untrue and crafted to justify
605-669: A plane crash in Tver Oblast , Putin signed a decree ordering Wagner Group fighters to swear an "oath of allegiance" to the Russian state. This new oath applies to all PMCs , including those fighting in Ukraine. The Wagner Group is known to have operated in at least 11 countries; Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Syria, Sudan, Mozambique, Central African Republic, Mali, Libya, Venezuela, and Madagascar, spanning four continents, Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. There are unconfirmed reports of activities in other countries. Wagner has played
726-564: A "monopoly" on the definition of antisemitism. Ukrainian officials respond that Russia's own actions in Ukraine are like those of Nazi Germany, and some commentators, including Snyder, have likened Putin's Russia to a fascist state (see Ruscism ). Many Russian units who took part in the invasion are linked to neo-Nazism themselves, including the Rusich Group and Kremlin-sponsored Wagner Group . Other openly neo-Nazi groups have been involved in recruiting, training and fighting on
847-572: A Wagner convoy headed towards Moscow . The mutiny was halted the next day when an agreement was reached: Wagner mutineers would not be prosecuted if they chose to either sign contracts with the Defense Ministry or withdraw to Belarus . On 23 August 2023, Prigozhin and Wagner commanders Dmitry Utkin and Valery Chekalov died in a plane crash in Russia , leaving Wagner's leadership structure unclear. Western intelligence reported that it
968-674: A claimed air strike on his paramilitary soldiers. Russian security forces accused the founder of the Wagner group of launching a coup attempt as he pledged a "march of justice" against the Russian army. Prigozhin posted a voice memo claiming that Wagner had left Ukraine and was advancing on the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don . Senior Russian generals urged Wagner's fighters to withdraw. Meanwhile Russia's national security service, FSB , said it had filed criminal charges against Prigozhin and moved to arrest him. Prigozhin claimed that Wagner mercenary forces entered Rostov without any resistance. A deal
1089-471: A group of patriots was born, which later came to be called the Wagner Battalion". Prigozhin became Wagner's public face and was referred to as its chief, but as he had no military background, he reportedly relied on Utkin to command Wagner's military operations. Utkin was a Russian military veteran. Before his involvement with the Wagner Group, he was a lieutenant colonel and brigade commander of
1210-490: A massacre could not have been covered up by the Russian military, and the mass grave in the city was filled with victims of Ukrainian airstrikes. The Ministry said it had analyzed a video purporting to show the bodies of dead civilians in Bucha, and the corpses were moving. The BBC's Moscow office investigated this claim and concluded there was no evidence the video had been staged. Russian officials also blamed Ukrainian forces for
1331-463: A month (667–2,083 USD). One source stated the pay was as high as 300,000 (US$ 2,500). In late 2019, a so-called Wagner code of honor was revealed that lists ten commandments for Wagner's PMCs to follow. These include, among others, to protect the interests of Russia always and everywhere, to value the honor of a Russian soldier, to fight not for money, but from the principle of winning always and everywhere. With increasing casualties on both sides in
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#17327971683311452-542: A neo-Nazi state. Kremlin claims of Nazism against Ukraine are partly an attempt to drum-up support for the war among its citizens. Russian propaganda has framed it as a continuation of the Soviet Union's " Great Patriotic War " against Nazi Germany , even though Russia supports far-right groups across Europe. In the words of Miriam Berger for The Washington Post , "the rhetoric of the 'fight against fascism ' resonates deeply in Russia, which suffered huge losses in
1573-626: A permanent name and had a legal address near the military settlement Pavshino in Krasnogorsk , near Moscow. In December 2021, New Lines magazine analyzed data about 4,184 Wagner members who had been identified by researchers at the Ukrainian Center of Analytics and Security, finding that the average age of a Wagner private military contractor (PMC) is forty years old and that the PMCs came from as many as fifteen different countries, though
1694-840: A possible motive for the allegations. The foreign ministries of France , the United Kingdom and the United States rejected "Russia's transparently false allegations". In a briefing, the Russian Ministry of Defence used photos of the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station , the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant , the aftermath of the September 11 attacks , and a photo from a 2010 presentation by
1815-679: A pro-Russian government in Kyiv would be safe and easy. His aim was not to defend Russia against some non-existent threat but rather to expand Russia's power, eradicate Ukraine's statehood, and destroy NATO, goals he still pursues". On 18 February 2022, the Luhansk People's Republic showed a video purportedly showing removal of a car full of explosives prepared to blow up a train full of women and children evacuating to Russia. The video's metadata showed that it had been recorded on 12 June 2019. The breakaway Donetsk People's Republic also released
1936-514: A rebellious manner, according to the Russian nationalist Sputnik and Pogrom internet media outlet and the SBU, (other sources describe those who started to "turn up dead" and whose fate Wagner was suspected of being responsible for as "the most charismatic and ideologically driven leaders". According to the SBU and the Russian media, Wagner also forced the reorganization and disarmament of Russian Cossack and other formations. The PMCs acted mostly in
2057-512: A significant role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine , where it has been reportedly deployed to assassinate Ukrainian leaders, among other activities, and for which it has recruited prison inmates from Russia for frontline combat. In December 2022, United States National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby claimed Wagner had 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, including 10,000 contractors and 40,000 convicts. Others put
2178-816: A statement rejecting Russia's abuse of the term "genocide" to "justify its own violence". Ukraine brought a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to challenge Russia's claim. The ICJ said it had not seen any evidence of genocide by Ukraine. Altogether, about 14,300 people were killed in the Donbas War , both soldiers and civilians. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights , 6,500 were Russian proxy forces, 4,400 were Ukrainian forces, and 3,404 were civilians on both sides of
2299-458: A video on 18 February 2022 that claimed to show Poles trying to blow up a chlorine tank. The video was further distributed by Russian media. The video's metadata showed that it was created on 8 February 2022, and included different pieces of audio or video, including a 2010 YouTube video from a military firing range in Finland . Ukrainian intelligence attributed responsibility for the video to
2420-482: Is a Russian state-funded private military company (PMC) controlled until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin , a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Putin . The Wagner Group has used infrastructure of the Russian Armed Forces . Evidence suggests that Wagner has been used as a proxy by the Russian government, allowing it to have plausible deniability for military operations abroad, and hiding
2541-580: Is no widespread support for far-right ideology in the government, military, or electorate. In the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election , a coalition of far-right parties including Right Sector received only 2% of votes and did not win any seats. Ukraine's Azov Brigade , which had far-right origins and included neo-Nazis in the past, was a focus of Kremlin propaganda, which falsely described it as an " anti-Russian neo-Nazis persecuting ethnic Russians and Russian speakers ". Azov has been mentioned on Russian TV more often than Putin's ruling United Russia party. By
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#17327971683312662-433: Is said to be part of a campaign of incitement to genocide by Russian authorities. United Nations special rapporteurs have condemned the Russian occupation authorities for attempting "to erase local [Ukrainian] culture, history, and language" and to forcibly replace them with Russian language and culture. After the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution , Russian rhetoric portrayed Ukrainian governments as illegitimate, calling them
2783-438: Is vague: on one hand, Russian legislation explicitly prohibits "illegal armed formations and mercenary groups", but at the same time the Russian state does not prosecute numerous PMCs employing Russians and operating in Russia, including but not limited to Wagner. Viktor Ozerov once hinted that this ban does not apply for companies "registered abroad" and in such case "Russia is not legally responsible for anything". This vagueness
2904-482: The Atlantic Council suggested the real reason Putin opposes NATO is not because he believes it is a threat, but because it "prevents him from bullying Russia's neighbors". Tom Casier writes that Russia's annexation of southeastern Ukraine reveals that the real motive for the invasion is to create a " Greater Russia ". Shortly before his death in a plane crash , Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin accused
3025-631: The Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), uncovered leaked documents showing how in 2017 the Sudanese Mining company, Meroe Gold, acting as a shell company for the Wagner Group, was able to use financial services provided by JP Morgan Chase to process a payment to a seller in China. C4ADS's report on the leaked documents showed that without the use of legitimate financial institutions such as JP Morgan Chase and HSBC as intermediaries to facilitate
3146-610: The Charter for European Security , affirming the right of each state to choose its security arrangements and join alliances if they wish. In 2002, Putin said Ukraine's relationship with NATO was not Russia's concern, and NATO and Russia co-operated until Russia attacked Ukraine in 2014. At the time, Ukraine was a neutral country and was not seeking NATO membership. Ukraine's parliament voted to end its neutral status in response to Russia's aggression, and Ukraine applied to join NATO after
3267-463: The June 2014 Il-76 airplane shoot-down at Luhansk International Airport and the early 2015 Battle of Debaltseve , which involved one of the heaviest artillery bombardments in recent history, as well as reportedly hundreds of regular Russian soldiers. Following the end of major combat operations, the PMCs were reportedly given the assignment to kill dissident pro-Russian commanders that were acting in
3388-495: The Mariupol theatre airstrike , though independent sources confirmed that Russia was responsible. In November 2022, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that the Russian military was attacking civilian infrastructure in Ukraine . According to Peskov, the Russian army only attacked targets directly or indirectly connected to military potential. In January 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed their responsibility for
3509-596: The Order of Courage and the title Hero of the Russian Federation , along with Alexander Kuznetsov , Andrey Bogatov [ ru ] and Andrei Troshev . Kuznetsov (alias " Ratibor ") was said to be the commander of Wagner's first reconnaissance and assault company, Bogatov was the commander of the fourth reconnaissance and assault company, and Troshev served as the company's "executive director". A few days after, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed
3630-516: The Russian government not officially acknowledging them. In March 2017, Radio Liberty characterized the PMC Wagner as a "semi-legal militant formation that exists under the wing and on the funds of the Ministry of Defence". In September 2017, the chief of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) Vasyl Hrytsak said that, in their opinion, Wagner was in essence "a private army of Putin" and that
3751-667: The Russian-occupied territories ) do not support the thesis that "Russians and Ukrainians are one people". Putin falsely claimed that the Ukrainian government were neo-Nazis and announced that one of his goals was the "de-Nazification of Ukraine". Putin's claims were repeated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council ; many diplomats walked out in protest. These claims were repeated in Russian media to justify
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3872-489: The Security Council of Russia and former Russian president, has called Ukraine part of Russia. He wrote that "Ukraine is NOT a country, but artificially collected territories" and that Ukrainian "is NOT a language" but a "mongrel dialect" of Russian. He has said that Ukraine should not exist in any form and that Russia will continue to wage war against any independent Ukrainian state. Such denial of nationhood
3993-584: The UN Charter ". Lawrence Freedman wrote that calling Ukraine a NATO "proxy" wrongly implied that "Ukrainians are only fighting because NATO put them up to it, rather than because of the more obvious reason that they have been subjected to a vicious invasion". He said that any weakening of Russia caused by the war would result from "Moscow's folly ...not NATO's intent". Geraint Hughes said that calling Ukraine NATO's "proxy" insults and belittles Ukrainians, denies their autonomy and implies they do not really have
4114-534: The Ukrainian Army and took control over facilities. The takeover of Crimea was almost bloodless. The PMCs, along with the regular soldiers, were called " polite people " at the time due to their well-mannered behavior. They kept to themselves, carried weapons that were not loaded, and mostly made no effort to interfere with civilian life. Another name for them was " little green men " since they were masked, wearing unmarked green army uniforms and their origin
4235-437: The " Black Russians ". The Wagner Group includes a contingent known as Rusich, or Task Force Rusich, referred to as a "sabotage and assault reconnaissance group", which has been fighting as part of the Russian separatist forces in eastern Ukraine . Rusich are described as a far-right extremist or neo-Nazi unit, and their logo features a Slavic swastika . The group was founded by Alexey Milchakov and Yan Petrovsky in
4356-503: The "Kyiv regime" or "junta". Putin said they were "led by a band of drug addicts and neo-Nazis", and claimed Ukraine is "under external control" by the West or the United States. The official governmental website of Ukraine says that Ukrainians consider themselves an independent nation. A poll conducted in April 2022 by " Rating " found that the vast majority (91%) of Ukrainians (excluding
4477-438: The 2022 invasion. According to Politico , members of the alliance have been wary of discussing its potential membership due to "Putin's hyper-sensitivity". Putin said that NATO's "eastward expansion" had provoked Russia, and claimed that NATO broke a promise not to let any Eastern European countries join. This unwritten promise was allegedly made by American and German diplomats to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990, but
4598-840: The Democratic Republic of Congo. According to the Financial Times , the Wagner Group does not exist as a single incorporated entity , but instead as a "sprawling network of interacting companies with varying degrees of proximity to [Prigozhin's] Concord group" – such as Concord Management and Consulting and Concord Catering. This abstruse structure has allegedly complicated efforts by Western governments to restrict Wagner's activities. Wagner's network of shell companies, reported to be primarily trading in illegally mined and extracted natural resources, has also been shown to have used Western banking systems to process funds without their knowledge. The Washington-based think-tank
4719-671: The FBI outlining a Russian operation to manipulate influentual people in Europe and target people on social media using posts, comments and fake articles from Western news outlets were filed in court in the US in September 2024. The goal being to sow division, undermine support for Ukraine, and discredit America using psychological warfare. The documents identified Germany as particularly vulnerable to Russian influence. The following are common themes in Russian propaganda and disinformation, along with some of
4840-533: The Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians ", Putin called Russians and Ukrainians " one people " and claimed there is "no historical basis" for the "idea of Ukrainian people as a nation separate from the Russians". Since then, Russia's official and media narrative is that Ukraine has always been Russian. In announcing the invasion, Putin repeatedly denied Ukraine's right to exist , claiming that it
4961-592: The LPR's People's Council unanimously approved Plotnitsky's resignation. As of October 2018, a few dozen PMCs remained in the Luhansk region, according to the SBU, to kill any people considered "undesirable by Russia". The Times reported that the Wagner Group flew in more than 400 contractors from the Central African Republic in mid- to late-January 2022 on a mission to assassinate Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and members of his government, and thus to prepare
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5082-474: The LPR's interior minister, Igor Kornet , who Plotnitsky ordered to be dismissed. During the turmoil, armed men in unmarked uniforms took up positions in the center of Luhansk. Some of the men belonged to Wagner, according to the Janes company. In the end, Plotnitsky resigned and LPR security minister Leonid Pasechnik was named acting leader "until the next elections." Plotnitsky reportedly fled to Russia and
5203-608: The LPR. The LPR accused Ukraine of committing the assassinations, while unit members of the commanders believed it was the LPR authorities who were behind the killings. Wagner left Ukraine and returned to Russia in autumn of 2015, with the start of the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War . In late November 2017, a power struggle erupted in the separatist Luhansk People's Republic in Eastern Ukraine between LPR president Igor Plotnitsky and
5324-518: The Russian Armed Forces Gen. Valery Gerasimov for "tens of thousands" of Wagner casualties, saying "They came here as volunteers and are dying so you can sit like fat cats in your luxury offices." In 2023, the Russian government granted the status of combat veterans to Wagner contractors who took part in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In a video released on 23 June 2023, Prigozhin said that Russian government justifications for
5445-402: The Russian aggression and the gross mischaracterization of Ukraine". The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum denounced Putin's claims, saying "once again, innocent people are being killed purely because of insane pseudo-imperial megalomania". The US Holocaust Memorial Museum and Yad Vashem condemned Putin's abuse of Holocaust history. Ukrainian Jews likewise rejected claims of Ukraine being
5566-416: The Russian intelligence service GRU . According to Bellingcat, a supposed bombing of a "separatist police chief" by a "Ukrainian spy", broadcast on Russian state television, showed visual evidence of the bombing of an old "green army vehicle". The old car's registration plate was that of the separatist police chief, but the same licence plate was also seen on a different, new SUV . On 22 February 2022,
5687-505: The Russian invasion of Ukraine As part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine , the Russian state and state-controlled media have spread disinformation in their information war against Ukraine . Ukrainian media and politicians have also been accused of using propaganda and deception, although such efforts have been described as more limited than the Russian disinformation campaign. Russian propaganda and fake news stories have attacked Ukraine's right to exist and accused it of being
5808-512: The Russian invasion of Ukraine were based on lies. He accused the Russian Defense Ministry under Shoigu of "trying to deceive society and the president and tell us how there was crazy aggression from Ukraine and that they were planning to attack us with the whole of NATO." On 24 June 2023, Prigozhin was accused by the Russian government of organizing an armed uprising after he threatened to attack Russian forces in response to
5929-434: The Russian invasion of Ukraine, Prigozhin claimed to have founded Wagner and he was referred to as the group's head. Some sources say Prigozhin was its owner and financier while Utkin was its military commander. It was long reported that Prigozhin had links with Wagner and Utkin personally. He was sometimes called "Putin's chef", because of his catering businesses that hosted dinners for Vladimir Putin. The businessman
6050-585: The Russian military leadership of lying about NATO aggression to justify the invasion. Prigozhin was a close ally of Putin and his Wagner Group played an important role in the Russian invasion. An article published by the Institute for the Study of War concluded: "Putin didn't invade Ukraine in 2022 because he feared NATO. He invaded because he believed that NATO was weak, that his efforts to regain control of Ukraine by other means had failed, and that installing
6171-543: The Russian people's militias in Ukraine accused Ukraine of a "terrorist attack" that killed three civilians in a car on the Donetsk-Gorlovka highway. France 24 described the incident as a false flag attempt with corpses likely coming from a morgue to set up the scene. On 7 September 2022, at the Eastern Economic Forum , Putin claimed that Russia did not "start" any military operations, but
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#17327971683316292-466: The Russian public. These allegations of Nazism are widely rejected as untrue and part of a Russian disinformation campaign to justify the invasion, with many pointing out that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish and had relatives who were victims of the Holocaust . Some of the world's leading historians of Nazism and the Holocaust put out a statement rejecting Putin's claims, which
6413-427: The Russian regime calls Ukrainians " Nazis " to justify genocidal acts against them . He said pro-war Russians use "Nazi" to mean "a Ukrainian who refuses to be Russian". Russian neo-fascist Aleksandr Dugin proposed to simply "identify Ukrainian Nazism with Russophobia ". Dugin argued that Russia should be the only country allowed to define Ukrainian Nazism and Russophobia, in the same way that Jews have what he calls
6534-541: The Russian side, such as the Russian Imperial Legion , AAST and Atomwaffen Division Russland . Russian far-right groups also played a major role among the Russian proxy forces in Donbas . Like many countries, Ukraine has a far-right fringe , such as Right Sector and Svoboda . Analysts generally agree that the Russian government greatly exaggerates far-right influence in Ukraine, as there
6655-404: The Russian state fully funded it from the country's defense budget and state budget. From May 2022 to May 2023 alone, the Russian state paid 86.262 billion RUB to the group, approximately $ 1 billion. Putin previously repeatedly denied any links between the Russian state and Wagner, stating that Wagner is a "private military company". Before that, many Russian and Western observers believed that
6776-603: The Russian state is not involved and has nothing to do with Wagner's activities in Africa. On 27 June 2023, he said that Wagner is fully funded by Russia, amounting to $ 1 billion from the defense ministry and state budget for May 2022 to May 2023 alone. In July, Russian state media said Prigozhin's Wagner Group had received the equivalent of $ 9.8B and his Concord catering business $ 9.6B from state sources. Two weeks later Putin once again stated that "legally Wagner Group does not exist". On 26 August 2023, following Prigozhin's death in
6897-521: The SBU were "working on identifying these people, members of Wagner PMC, to make this information public so that our partners in Europe knew them personally". The Wagner Group has also been compared with Academi , the American security firm formerly known as Blackwater. According to the SBU, Wagner employees were issued international passports in bulk by the GRU via Central Migration Office Unit 770–001 in
7018-530: The Slovenian Radioactive Waste Management Agency [ sl ] as "evidence" for its claims. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity were recorded and extensively documented, including attacks on civilians and energy-related infrastructure, wilful killings, unlawful confinement, torture , rape , and unlawful deportations of children. Russian officials denied
7139-538: The U.S.Senate that Russia made these claims to prepare the terrain for a biological or chemical attack against Ukraine, which they would then blame on the United States and Ukraine. On 28 October 2022 Vasily Nebenzya , Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations , accused Ukraine of using drones with "combat mosquitoes " which spread "dangerous viruses". In March 2022, Russian state-controlled news agencies claimed, without evidence, that Ukraine
7260-614: The Wagner Group had offices in 20 African countries, including Eswatini , Lesotho and Botswana, by the end of 2019. Early in 2020, Erik Prince , founder of the Blackwater private military company, sought to provide military services to the Wagner Group in its operations in Libya and Mozambique, according to The Intercept . By March 2021, Wagner PMCs were reportedly also deployed in Zimbabwe, Angola, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, and possibly
7381-526: The allegations "transparently false". According to researcher Adam Rawnsley, the Kremlin has a history of discrediting ordinary biology labs in former Soviet republics, and previously spread conspiracy theories about Georgia and Kazakhstan similar to those deployed against Ukraine. Prior to March 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defence made unsubstantiated accusations that the United States
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#17327971683317502-617: The amount of disinformation, Russian media has been restricted and its reputation has been tarnished in many Western and developed countries . Russia has been more successful spreading disinformation in the Global South , particularly in the Sahel region of Africa , where Russia uses private military companies to support local regimes (see Wagner Group activities in Africa ). Descriptions of Ukraine-sponsored propaganda and misinformation have focused on over-optimistic reports about
7623-556: The capture of Svitlodarsk , the Battle of Sievierodonetsk , and the Battle of Lysychansk . During fighting near Popasna on 20 May, retired Major General Kanamat Botashev of the Russian Air Force was shot down while flying a Sukhoi Su-25 attack aircraft, reportedly for the Wagner Group. During the invasion, Wagner PMCs also trained Russian servicemen before they were sent to the frontline. Disinformation in
7744-568: The chance to live another day. If they go back, they're dead for sure." A Ukrainian battalion commander reported that in intercepted radio traffic on the battlefield, Ukrainians hear "over and over" Wagner commanders giving the order: "Anyone who takes a step back, zero them out." The Wagner Group reportedly recruited imprisoned UPC rebels in the Central African Republic to fight in Mali and Ukraine. They are reportedly nicknamed
7865-766: The command of Davor Savičić, a Bosnian Serb who was a member of the Serb Volunteer Guard (also known as Arkan's Tigers ) during the Bosnian War and the Special Operations Unit (JSO) during the Kosovo War . His call sign in Bosnia was "Elvis". Savičić was reportedly only three days in the Luhansk region when a BTR armored personnel carrier fired at his checkpoint, leaving him shell-shocked . After this, he left to be treated. He
7986-433: The common rebuttals. Russian propaganda has attacked Ukrainian nationhood and national identity , portraying Ukrainians as " Little Russians " or "part of an all-Russian nation ". This has been a theme in Russian imperialist and nationalist rhetoric since the seventeenth century. Russian President Vladimir Putin has long questioned the Ukrainian people's identity and the country's legitimacy. In his 2021 essay " On
8107-399: The company and issued at a certain time with the permission of their commander. Passports and other documents are surrendered and in return company employees receive a nameless dog tag with a personal number. The company only accepts new recruits if a 10-year confidentiality agreement is established and in case of a breach of the confidentiality the company reserves the right to terminate
8228-511: The company reported that Midas Ressources was awarded their operating license. Midas brought in heavy equipment and turned the mine into the nation's first industrialized gold mine. In 2021, in Boyo , Wagner Group fighters massacred villagers who were perceived to be aligned with the UPC. On 10 February 2021 government forces recaptured the mine. Two days later UPC launched an attack on Ndassima which
8349-449: The diplomats and NATO denied ever making any formal proposal. Such a promise was never included in any treaty. Between the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Russian invasion, 14 Eastern European countries willingly joined NATO, and the last time a country bordering Russia had joined NATO was in 2004. Russia's invasion led Finland to join NATO , doubling the length of Russia's border with NATO. Putin said that Finland's membership
8470-478: The employee's contract without paying a fee. According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Russian military officers are assigned the role of drill instructors for the recruits. During their training, the PMCs receive $ 1,100 per month. The pay of Wagner PMCs, who are usually retired regular Russian servicemen aged between 35 and 55, is estimated to be between 80,000 and 250,000 Russian rubles
8591-622: The entire eight years of the Donbas War. Since the invasion, Russian state-controlled media and pro-Kremlin Telegram channels falsely accused Ukrainian troops of attacking civilian targets in Mariupol and bombing Ukrainian cities. Russian website Bumaga stated that an anonymous former employee of Yevgeny Prigozhin 's media company "Patriot" said that most of their reports about "victims of Ukrainian Armed Forces" in Donbas were staged. Russian propaganda often claims that NATO provoked
8712-465: The fight against Nazi Germany". Some Soviet imagery was used as part of this propaganda drive, and Ukrainian flags were replaced with Victory Banners in some occupied towns. Experts on disinformation say that Russia's portrayal of Ukrainians as Nazis helps them justify Russian war crimes ; Russia's UN representative justified the Hroza missile attack in this way. Historian Timothy Snyder said
8833-558: The frontline. The vast majority of civilian deaths were in the first year, and the death rate in the Donbas War was actually falling before the 2022 Russian invasion: in 2019 there were 27 conflict-related civilian deaths, in 2020 there were 26 deaths, and in 2021 there were 25 deaths, over half of them from mines and unexploded ordnance . By comparison, after Russian full-scale invasion, 4,163 civilians were killed in March 2022, meaning that more civilians died in that one month alone than in
8954-413: The ground for Russia to take control for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which started on 24 February 2022. A US official stated that there were "some indications" that Wagner was being employed, but it was not clear where or how much. By 3 March, according to The Times , Zelenskyy had survived three assassination attempts, two of which were allegedly orchestrated by the Wagner Group. In late March, it
9075-401: The idea of setting up PMCs in Russia. Several military analysts described Wagner as a "pseudo-private" military company that offers the Russian military establishment certain advantages such as ensuring plausible deniability, public secrecy about Russia's military operations abroad, as well as about the number of losses. Thus, Wagner contractors have been described as "ghost soldiers", due to
9196-507: The invasion and even to justify genocidal acts against Ukrainians . The Russian state has denied carrying out war crimes in Ukraine , and Russian media has falsely blamed some of them on Ukrainian forces instead. Some of the disinformation seeks to undermine international support for Ukraine and to provoke hostility against Ukrainian refugees . Russian disinformation has been pervasive and successful in Russia itself, due to censorship of war news and state control of most media. Because of
9317-410: The invasion and that Russia had to invade Ukraine to defend itself. In his two speeches just before the invasion, Putin said that Ukraine joining NATO would be a threat, and warned that NATO might use Ukraine to launch a surprise attack on Russia. He falsely claimed that NATO was building up its forces and military infrastructure in Ukraine, and that the Ukrainian military was under NATO control. After
9438-531: The invasion began, Russian state media falsely claimed that some Ukrainian military units were under NATO command, and that thousands of NATO soldiers had been killed. NATO is a collective security alliance of 32 member states, similar to the CSTO of which Russia is a member. Outside its member states, NATO only has a military presence in Kosovo and Iraq, at the request of their governments. In 1999, Russia signed
9559-513: The lack of cadets. In return for agreeing to fight in Ukraine, the criminals are promised a shortening of the sentence and monetary remuneration. BBC Russian Service reported that according to jurists, it is not legal to send inmates to war. Captured and retired members report that the Wagner policy of "zeroing out" (summary execution) of fighters who retreat or desert means that in situations where regular Army units would retreat, Wagner continues its assault. "If they move forward, they at least have
9680-565: The majority were from Russia. When new PMC recruits arrive at the training camp, they are no longer allowed to use social network services and other Internet resources. Company employees are not allowed to post photos, texts, audio and video recordings or any other information on the Internet that was obtained during their training. They are not allowed to tell anyone their location, whether they are in Russia or another country. Mobile phones, tablets and other means of communication are left with
9801-767: The military base until at least 2012 and ran a private detective agency. In 2014 he allegedly took part in suppressing opponents of the Russian-backed president of Republika Srpska , Milorad Dodik , during the Republika Srpska general election . Between 2014 and 2017, Pikalov traveled several times to destinations near the Ukrainian border, sometimes on joint bookings with known Wagner officers. Former employees of Prigozhin said Pikalov took part in military operations in Ukraine and Syria. In early 2016, Wagner had 1,000 employees, which later rose to 5,000 by August 2017, and 6,000 by December 2017. The organization
9922-510: The military command of "Wagner" is held directly by the GRU, including its current head Igor Kostyukov and former head of Russian SSO Aleksey Dyumin , with Prigozhin being responsible for its business administration. "Wagner" is mostly populated by current and former GRU operatives, and used for operations where direct GRU participation is undesirable. Russian journalists also link Prigozhin to Yuri Kovalchuk and Sergey Kiryenko , both influential figures close to Putin. "Wagner's" interests in
10043-511: The mine during the Central African Republic Civil War in 2013. In June 2013, heavy rains provoked the collapse of the mine, killing 37 miners and injuring many others. On August 22, 2014 the mine collapsed again killing at least 25 people. Wagner Group took over the mine around 2017, and the mine's owners Axmin reported being notified that their permit to operate the mine was cancelled in 2019. Shortly later
10164-542: The movement of funds, the Wagner Group would not have been able to establish a foothold in Africa. Based partly on leaked documents provided by the Dossier Center , investigative journalist David Patrikarakos has stated that Wagner has never been under the control of either the GRU or the Ministry of Defense, as has often been claimed, but is instead exclusively run by Prigozhin. The company trains its personnel at
10285-528: The number of recruited prisoners at more than 20,000, with the overall number of PMC forces present in Ukraine estimated at 20,000. In 2023, Russia granted combat veteran status to Wagner contractors who took part in the invasion. Wagner PMCs were first active in February 2014 in Crimea during Russia's 2014 annexation of the peninsula where they operated in line with regular Russian army units, disarmed
10406-474: The official structures of Russian Ministry of Defense are reportedly represented by general Sergey Surovikin . Private military companies are still illegal in Russia, but with their heavy participation in the war in Ukraine they have been legitimized by being referred by the Ministry of Defense and Russian government with the umbrella term of "volunteer detachments". On 5 May 2023, Prigozhin blamed Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff of
10527-476: The organization does not actually exist as a private military company but is in reality a disguised branch of the Russian MoD that ultimately reports to the Russian government. The company shares bases with the Russian military, is transported by Russian military aircraft, and uses Russia's military health care services. The Russian state is also documented supporting the Wagner Group with passports. The legal status of private military companies in Russia
10648-490: The people" of the Russian-controlled breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk . Putin claimed they had been facing "genocide perpetrated by the Kyiv regime" for eight years. There is no evidence for Putin's claims of genocide, and they have been widely rejected as an excuse to justify invasion. The European Commission called the allegations "Russian disinformation". Over 300 scholars on genocide issued
10769-550: The presence of Utkin at the reception. Colonel Konstantin Aleksandrovich Pikalov (alias "Mazay") was said to have been put in charge of Wagner's African operations in 2019. Pikalov served as an officer in Russia's experimental military unit numbered 99795, based in the village of Storozhevo, near Saint Petersburg. The unit was tasked, in part, with "determining the effects of radioactive rays on living organisms". Following his retirement, he continued to live on
10890-475: The remaining 95 percent of the personnel being Russian citizens. One Ukrainian was killed in Syria while fighting in the ranks of Wagner in March 2016, and three were reported overall to have died that spring. Armenians, Kazakhs and Moldovans have also worked for Wagner. Following the deployment of its contractors between 2017 and 2019, to Sudan, the Central African Republic, Madagascar, Libya and Mozambique,
11011-452: The right to work and promote their business interests abroad. Putin also denied allegations that Prigozhin had been directing Wagner's activities. In September 2022 Prigozhin officially admitted to founding and managing "Wagner Group" which started as a battalion participating from May 2014 on the Russian side in the War in Donbas . According to a Russia investigative media Russkiy Kriminal ,
11132-602: The second half of 2018, allegations partially verified by Bellingcat . In an interview in December 2018, Russian president Putin said, in regard to Wagner PMC's operating in Ukraine, Syria and elsewhere, that "everyone should remain within the legal framework" and that if the Wagner group was violating the law, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office "should provide a legal assessment". But, according to Putin, if they did not violate Russian law, they had
11253-747: The summer of 2014, after graduating from a paramilitary training program run by the Russian Imperial Legion, the fighting arm of the Russian Imperial Movement . As of 2017, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General and the International Criminal Court (ICC) were investigating fighters of this unit for alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine. Wagner is believed to have a Serb unit, which was, until at least April 2016, under
11374-469: The time of the invasion, the brigade had been largely de-politicized. A 2022 Counter Extremism Project report concluded that the Azov Brigade can no longer be defined as neo-Nazi. In his announcement of the invasion, Putin baselessly claimed that Ukraine was carrying out genocide in the mainly Russian-speaking Donbas region. He said the purpose of Russia's "military operation" was to "protect
11495-441: The true casualties of Russia's foreign interventions. The group emerged during the war in Donbas , where it helped Russian separatist forces in Ukraine from 2014 to 2015. Wagner played a significant role in the later full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine , for which it recruited Russian prison inmates for frontline combat. By the end of 2022, its strength in Ukraine had grown from 1,000 to between 20,000 and 50,000. It
11616-407: The videos were not there when Russian forces withdrew from Bucha. This was contradicted by satellite images showing that the bodies were there as early as 19 March; the position of the corpses in the satellite images matches the smartphone photos taken in early April. The Russian Defence Ministry 's Telegram channel said Russian forces did not target civilians during the battle. According to them,
11737-549: The war and promotion of patriotic stories. Disinformation (a lie or exaggeration meant to sway opinion) has been spread by the Russian state, state-controlled media, propagandists, and Russian web brigades as part of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Its purpose is to build support for Russia's invasion, and to weaken opposition to the invasion. It also seeks to sow disunity among Western countries who support Ukraine; to counter NATO; and to cover up or create plausible deniability for Russian war crimes. Russian documents obtained by
11858-451: The war crimes perpetrated by Russian forces. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the Bucha massacre a "fake attack" against Russia, claiming it was staged. He said that Russian forces had left Bucha on 30 March while evidence of killings had emerged, according to him, four days later. On 4 April at the United Nations, Russian representative Vasily Nebenzya said that the bodies in
11979-492: The war in Ukraine, the Russian government used the Wagner Group for recruitment. The NGO Meduza reported that the Russian Defense Ministry had taken control of Wagner's networks and was using its reputation for recruitment, but that the requirements had been reduced, with drug tests also reportedly not being done before duty. According to British intelligence, since July 2022 at the latest, the Wagner Group has been trying to recruit inmates from Russian prisons in order to alleviate
12100-430: The war. In April 2022, Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti published an article by Timofey Sergeytsev, " What Russia should do with Ukraine ", where he argued that Ukraine and Ukrainian national identity must be wiped out, because he claimed most Ukrainians are at least "passive Nazis". By May, references to de-Nazifying Ukraine in Russian media began to wane, reportedly because it had not gained traction with
12221-448: The will to defend their country. Countering claims of NATO waging a proxy war, it is pointed out that NATO states have actually been slow in sending weaponry to Ukraine, especially advanced offensive weapons, and they prevented Ukraine from firing those weapons into Russia. NATO refused to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine , and the US told Ukraine to stop attacking refineries and early-warning radars in Russia. Peter Dickinson of
12342-760: Was manufacturing bio-weapons in Ukraine. In March the Ministry followed up with another conspiracy theory: the US was training birds to spread disease in Ukraine among Russian citizens, according to Major General Igor Konashenkov , spokesman for the Ministry of Russian state-controlled media. He mentioned specific details, including a strain of influenza with 50% mortality, and Newcastle disease . Media reports included maps, documents, and photos of birds with American military insignia, and claimed that infected birds had been captured alive in eastern Ukraine. A U.S. State Department spokesman laughed these claims off and called them "outright lies", "total nonsense", "absurd", "laughable" and "propaganda". CIA Director William Burns told
12463-468: Was a veteran of the conflict in Syria, had been killed while fighting in eastern Ukraine. In January 2023, Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić criticized Wagner for recruiting Serbian nationals and called on Russia to put an end to the practice, noting that it is illegal under Serbian law for Serbian citizens to take part in foreign armed conflicts. On 27 June 2023, President Putin, while declaring an investigation into Wagner Group spending, confirmed that
12584-586: Was also reported to had been involved in the first offensive to capture Palmyra from the Islamic State (ISIL) in early 2016. One member of the Serbian unit was killed in Syria in June 2017, while the SBU issued arrest warrants in December 2017, for six Serbian PMCs that belonged to Wagner and fought in Ukraine, including Savičić. In early February 2018, the SBU reported that one Serb member of Wagner, who
12705-526: Was created by the Russian Bolsheviks and that it never had "real statehood". Björn Alexander Düben, professor of international affairs, writes that "Putin's historical claims do not hold up to serious academic scrutiny" and that he is "embracing a neo-imperialist account that exalts Russia's centuries-long repressive rule over Ukraine, while simultaneously presenting Russia as a victim of 'US imperialism'". Dmitry Medvedev , deputy chairman of
12826-562: Was developing a plutonium -based dirty bomb nuclear weapon at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant . In a series of calls to foreign defence officials made in October 2022, Russian Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu similarly claimed that Ukraine was preparing a "provocation" involving the use of a dirty bomb. The Institute for the Study of War suggested a desire to slow or suspend foreign aid to Ukraine as
12947-469: Was developing biological weapons in a network of labs linked to the US. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China and Chinese state media amplified Russian claims. QAnon promoters also echo disinformation. BBC Reality Check found no evidence supporting the claims. The United Nations also refuted this. Russian biologists in and outside of Russia have debunked the claims, calling
13068-421: Was eventually brokered by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko de-escalated the rebellion. According to the agreement, Prigozhin was to leave Russia for Belarus , and the criminal case against him was to be dropped. No legal action was to be taken against his troops, and the Wagner fighters were to sign contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry. Russian president Putin had stated on 8 February 2022, that
13189-398: Was expected that the number of Wagner PMCs in Ukraine would be tripled from around 300 at the beginning of the invasion to at least 1,000, and that they were to be focused on the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. In late April, a Russian military offensive to take the remainder of the Donbas region dubbed the Battle of Donbas was launched and Wagner PMCs took part in the Battle of Popasna ,
13310-611: Was initially unknown. After the takeover of Crimea, some 300 PMCs went to the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine where a conflict started between Ukrainian government and pro-Russian forces. With their help, the pro-Russian forces were able to destabilize government security forces in the region, immobilize operations of local government institutions, seize ammunition stores and take control of towns. The PMCs conducted sneak attacks, reconnaissance, intelligence-gathering and accompanied VIPs . The Wagner Group PMCs reportedly took part in
13431-477: Was interpreted as a tool that enables the Russian state to selectively allow operations of PMCs it needs, while preventing creation of any PMCs that would create a risk for Putin and at the same time manage plausible deniability for their actions. As result, a number of PMCs appear to have been operating in Russia, and in April 2012 Vladimir Putin, speaking in the State Duma as Russian prime minister, endorsed
13552-417: Was its owner, financier and public face. According to Bellingcat , evidence suggests Utkin "was more of a field commander" and "was not in the driver's seat of setting up this private army, but was employed as a convenient and deniable decoy to disguise its state provenance". In December 2016, Utkin was photographed with Russian president Putin at a Kremlin reception in honour of those who had been awarded
13673-501: Was likely caused by an explosion on board, and it is widely suspected that the Russian state was involved. In October 2023, pro-Wagner groups reported that Pavel Prigozhin , son of former leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, has taken over command of the Wagner Group. The Wagner Group first appeared in 2014, during the Russian annexation of Crimea . Until 2022 it was unclear who founded and led the group. Both Dmitry Utkin and Yevgeny Prigozhin have been named as its founders and leaders. During
13794-401: Was not a threat, unlike Ukraine's, "but the expansion of military infrastructure into this territory would certainly provoke our response". The Russian government accused NATO of waging a " proxy war " against Russia, because its members have sent military aid to Ukraine after the invasion. NATO says it is not at war with Russia, but supports Ukraine's "right to self-defense, as enshrined in
13915-572: Was only trying to end those that started in 2014, after a "coup d’état in Ukraine". Conversely, Russia's annexation of Crimea in February 2014 is regarded as the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War . Before Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the intensity of the hostilities in the Donbas had been steadily declining since the signing of the Minsk agreements in February 2015. In March 2022, Russia alleged that Ukraine
14036-710: Was repelled by army forces with help from Russian mercenaries. Legal ownership of the asset remains in dispute and Axmin still holds the mining convention pending resolution at law. Wagner Group Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso Sudanese Revolution Venezuelan presidential crisis (military training and security) Insurgency in Cabo Delgado The Wagner Group ( Russian : Группа Вагнера , romanized : Gruppa Vagnera ), officially known as PMC Wagner ( ЧВК «Вагнер» ),
14157-610: Was reportedly Russia's main assault force in the Battle of Bakhmut . Wagner has also supported regimes friendly with Putin's Russia, including in the civil wars in Syria , Libya , the Central African Republic , and Mali . In Africa , it has offered regimes security in exchange for the transfer of diamond and gold mining contracts to Russian companies. Wagner operatives have been accused of war crimes including murder, torture, rape and robbery of civilians, as well as torturing and killing accused deserters. Prigozhin admitted that he
14278-631: Was said to be registered in Argentina and has offices in Saint Petersburg and Hong Kong. In November 2022, Wagner opened a new headquarters and technology center at the PMC Wagner Center building in the east of Saint Petersburg. In early October 2017, the SBU said that Wagner's funding in 2017 had been increased by 185 million rubles ($ 3.1 million) and that around forty Ukrainian nationals were working for Wagner, with
14399-446: Was said to be the main funder and actual owner of the Wagner Group. Prigozhin denied any link with Wagner and had sued Bellingcat , Meduza , and Echo of Moscow for reporting his links to the mercenary group. In September 2022, he claimed to have founded the group, saying "I cleaned the old weapons myself, sorted out the bulletproof vests myself and found specialists who could help me with this. From that moment, on May 1, 2014,
14520-575: Was signed by hundreds of other historians and scholars of the subject. It says: "We strongly reject the Russian government's ... equation of the Ukrainian state with the Nazi regime to justify its unprovoked aggression. This rhetoric is factually wrong, morally repugnant and deeply offensive to the memory of millions of victims of Nazism and those who courageously fought against it." The authors say that Ukraine "has right-wing extremists and violent xenophobic groups" like any country, but "none of this justifies
14641-416: Was the leader of Wagner in September 2022. He began openly criticizing the Russian Defense Ministry for mishandling the war against Ukraine, eventually saying their reasons for the invasion were lies . On 23 June 2023, he led the Wagner Group in an armed rebellion against Russia after accusing the Defense Ministry of shelling Wagner soldiers. Wagner units seized the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don , while
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