144-600: 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» ), is a Russian state-funded private military company (PMC) controlled until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin ,
288-463: 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
432-580: 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
576-723: 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
720-451: A shootout between authorities and jihadists took place, with no casualties. The head of Ansarul Islam , Ibrahim Malam Dicko, was killed in June 2017. The group announced a new leader, Jafar Dicko . On the night of 24 to 25 July, five members of Ansarul Islam were assassinated in the villages of Ndidja, Sibé and Neyba, Soum province , possibly by the new leadership. On 14 August 2017,
864-528: 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 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 ,
1008-457: 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
1152-517: A Burkinabé, slaying three gendarmes in the process. On 4 October, six soldiers died after their military convoy ran over an explosive device. That night, an army of forty Islamists launched an attack against local gendarmes in Inata . The following day, six policemen died in a mine bombing near Sollé . In early October, the Armed Forces of Burkina Faso unrolled a major military operation in
1296-519: A French military vehicle, injuring two people. An allied detachment found the militants during a search operation, but the armed Islamist group members attacked again, slaying a soldier. During the ensuing twelve days of searching, two jihadists were killed, eight were taken prisoner, and up to 200 suspects were arrested. The French forces quickly returned to the offensive, leading several successful raids against military targets. On 27 May, in Pétéga,
1440-642: A battalion participating from May 2014 on the Russian side in the War in Donbas . According to a Russia investigative media Russkiy Kriminal , 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
1584-466: A battle with French forces on 10 February near Ouahigouya in return for the killing of five officers in the previous year. Four civilians died in the crossfire. French authorities expressed regret for the civilian casualties, which they assured was accidental. On 8–9 February, insurgents attacked the W National Park in Benin , killing nine people. On 12 February, French forces retaliated by launching
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#17327759640241728-592: A blog under the pseudonym "Brown Moses", named after a song by Frank Zappa , through which he published his research into video footage of the Syrian Civil War . He looked at hundreds of short clips on the Internet, localised them, and examined details of the weapons used. As a result, Higgins demonstrated that the Syrian regime was using cluster munitions and chemical weapons . In 2013, Higgins linked
1872-455: A bomb attack in Boungou , near Fada N'Gourma . On the night of 27–28 August, eight soldiers died after an explosive device detonated near Pama . On the night of 14–15 September, Jihadists murdered nine people in the villages of Diabiga and Kompiembiga including a religious leader. A few weeks later, rebels kidnapped three employees in a gold mine – an Indian , a South-African and
2016-583: A death toll of 39 civilians. Three days later, six soldiers were killed between Madjoari and Pama , in Kompienga province . On 12 February, two civilians were killed by jihadists in Tanwalbougou . On Sunday, 16 February, a Protestant church in Pansi was attacked by armed jihadists, who murdered 24 people (including the pastor) and wounding 20 more. This was a week before five people (also including
2160-529: 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 a month (667–2,083 USD). One source stated
2304-421: A follow-up report, Bellingcat published crowdfunded satellite imagery and further analysis that supported their claim. A December 2017 article published by Bellingcat cited a quote from the 2017 British Intelligence and Security Committee report in which a British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) source had stated "we know beyond any reasonable doubt that the Russian military supplied and subsequently recovered
2448-562: 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 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
2592-461: A further 61 soldiers and 24 civilians were injured . In 2018, the insurgency expanded to the east of the country. The jihadists launched three attacks on 13 June: in Tindangou , against a police checkpoint , and on the police station and gendarmerie brigade of Comin-Yanga . During the last attack security forces managed to shoot an assailant. On 12 August, six people were killed by rebels in
2736-633: A group of civilians stopped a French convoy in Kaya Department , alleging that France was secretly working with the jihadists. In a separate incident during that month, Islamists killed 41 people in an ambush, including the popular vigilante leader Ladji Yoro. Yoro was a central figure in the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland , or VDP for short, a pro-government militia that has taken
2880-469: 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
3024-492: A larger force of armed men. In Kossi Province , 4 military police were killed in an attack. Over the weekend of 12–13 June, between 100 and 165 people were killed in Seytenga Department , Séno Province . The attackers appear to have targeted men and around 3,000 people left their homes. The UNHCR reported on 17 June that around 16,000 people had left the area since the attack and called for urgent support for
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#17327759640243168-489: A leading role in the country's struggle against Islamists. On 15 January, at least 10 civilians were killed in an attack blamed on jihadists in northern Burkina Faso, in the village of Namssiguian in Bam province. Operation Laabingol 1 took place in the north of the country, from 16 January to 23 January, 2022. 163 jihadists were killed, injured, or captured in the operations, including 60 in collaboration with French forces in
3312-652: A major airstrike on an Islamist camp in Burkina Faso, killing forty rebels. On 11 May 2022, Burkinabè militants crossed the border into Togo and killed eight soldiers. On 9 June, several attacks took place in the country. A civilian and a soldier were killed at the Karma gold mine in Yatenga Province while 3 to 4 soldiers were also injured. In Seytenga Department , Séno Province , 11 military police were killed when their command post came under attack by
3456-650: A mediator during the Mali War between rebels and the government. Burkina Faso led an intervention into the country in 2013. However, in November 2014, Compaoré was overthrown , marking the end of his rule and creating a scenario of instability. On 23 August 2015, the insurgency in the Maghreb spread to Burkina Faso, beginning with an attack on a gendarmerie by alleged Boko Haram members. Between August 2015 and October 2016, seven different posts were attacked across
3600-654: A mine explosion. Three days later, two gendarmes were killed in an ambush by jihadists. On 9 November, the Burkina Faso Armed Forces successfully neutralized 12 jihadists in the village of Ariel. On 2 March 2018, Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked the French embassy in Ouagadougou as well as the general staff of the Burkinabè army. Eight soldiers and eight attackers were killed, and
3744-578: A page that contains information on incidents that have the potential to cause harm to civilians in Ukraine. On 26 December 2022, it became known that Bellingcat's lead Russia investigator Christo Grozev was placed on Russia's most wanted list. Beginning in March 2011 after political protests turned violent, the Syrian Civil War has been an ongoing conflict between the Syrian Arab Republic , Syrian Opposition , Islamic State of Iraq and
3888-591: A pair of armed men entered a restaurant in Ouagadougou , murdering 18 people before they were shot dead by Burkinabè authorities . On 17 August, a Burkinabè army vehicle rolled over an explosive in Touronata, killing three people and injuring two more. This is the first such incident in the country's history. On 15 September, three men, including an imam and the local village chief, were slain by armed men in Soum province . On 23 September, seven soldiers were killed in
4032-470: A passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur , was shot down while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew members died after the Boeing 777 was hit by a burst of "high-energy objects". In a press conference, Russian officials said Ukrainian forces had destroyed the flight and presented radar data, expert testimony and a satellite image. The radar data that showed another aircraft in
4176-469: A pastor) were slain in a church in the neighbouring town of Sebba . On 29 February, Sebba was attacked again, leaving ten policemen dead. On 8 March, the Fulani villages of Barga-Peulh and Dinguila-Peulh, Barga department , were raided by pro-government militias, leaving forty civilians dead. In October, around fifty refugees who had fled elsewhere tried to return to their home region, thinking that
4320-574: 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
4464-625: A persecution campaign against Christians . The campaign began on 28 April 2019, when six people, including a pastor, were killed by a group of 10 to 20 people inside a Protestant church in Silgadji. On 12 May, six more people, including one priest, died in a Catholic church in Dablo after it was raided by Islamists. The next day, a Catholic procession was targeted near Kayon and Singa-Rimaïbé , in Zimtanga department . Four people were murdered and
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4608-509: 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
4752-451: A retired policeman was assassinated by a group of armed men, but one of them was killed during the operation. On the night between 2 and 3 June, at least five people, including a couple and their child, were murdered in targeted attacks across Soum province. On 9 June, military forces rounded up 74 villagers in the town of Djibo accused of collaborating with Ansarul Islam . Several of the villagers were tortured , two fatally. On 12 July,
4896-508: 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
5040-494: A statue of the Virgin Mary was destroyed. On the night of 9–10 May, French forces attacked a jihadist encampment near Gorom-Gorom , freeing four hostages — two French, one South-Korean and one American . Four jihadists and two French soldiers died. Despite this success, massacres have continued to grow more common. On 9 June 19 civilians died in an attack on Arbinda . On 18 June, armed men murdered 17–18 people in
5184-585: A video obtained by The New York Times , and geo-located the source of the video to a residential area in Parand , a suburb west of the airport. On 15 October 2020, a video surfaced of two captured Armenians being executed by Azerbaijani soldiers; Bellingcat analysed the videos and concluded that the footage was real and that both executed were Armenian combatants captured by Azerbaijani forces between 9 and 15 October 2020 and later executed. In December 2020, Bellingcat published an investigation detailing how
5328-524: Is highly likely that a Houthi-led drone attack did not take place in Abu Dhabi or Dubai". According to the report, the claims of the attacks constituted a propaganda effort and followed "propaganda pattern" claims by the Houthi leaders. Following RT 's interview with the suspects of the 4 March 2018 Sergei Skripal poisoning case, Bellingcat published the suspects' passport data showing inconsistencies in
5472-494: Is undesirable. Russian journalists also link Prigozhin to Yuri Kovalchuk and Sergey Kiryenko , both influential figures close to Putin. "Wagner's" interests in 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
5616-438: 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
5760-447: 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
5904-614: The i newspaper, Bellingcat is notable for its transparency, as Bellingcat investigative reports describe "how they found out the story and which techniques they used". As reported in Foreign Policy , one of the unintended benefits of open-source intelligence outlets, such as Bellingcat (and others), is that it gives the US intelligence community freedom to discuss Russian intelligence operations publicly without revealing their own sources or methods. On 8 October 2021, Bellingcat
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6048-666: The 2018 Hajjah Governorate airstrike by the Saudi Arabian–led coalition the bomb was made by the American company Raytheon . In November 2018, Bellingcat published the results of an investigation on Houthi broadcasts through their affiliated Almasirah news channel concerning missile attacks targeted against two airports in the United Arab Emirates , Abu Dhabi International Airport and Dubai International Airport . The investigation report concluded that "It
6192-803: 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. Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso [REDACTED] Burkina Faso [REDACTED] France (until 2023) [REDACTED] Russia (since 2024) Al-Qaeda [REDACTED] Ansar Dine (until 2017) [REDACTED] Ansar ul Islam [REDACTED] Islamic State An ongoing war and civil conflict between
6336-645: The Brenninkmeijer family philanthropy, Adessium Foundation , National Endowment for Democracy (NED), PAX for Peace, the Dutch Postcode Lottery , the Digital News Initiative , Zandstorm CV and Sigrid Rausing Trust . Higgins has said much of the grant money does not directly fund investigations and is used for support services such as document translations and training. Higgins told Polygraph.info that grants from
6480-630: 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
6624-573: 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 was the leader of Wagner in September 2022. He began openly criticizing
6768-650: The Columbia Journalism Review referred to as "a comprehensive and contextualized report on the motives and movements of the Christchurch killer". In an online posting, Brenton Tarrant repeats a variety of " white genocide " talking points, and says his murder of several dozen Muslims is because they are "invaders" outbreeding the white race. Robert Evans refers to the manifesto as shitposting , defined as "the act of throwing out huge amounts of content, most of it ironic, low-quality trolling, for
6912-852: The Fulani members of the town, in what is now known as the Yirgou massacre . 72 people died and over 6,000 were displaced during the incident. On 10 January, a group of 36 jihadists slew twelve civilians in Gasseliki . 17 days later, ten more civilians were killed in Sikiré, near Arbinda . On 28 January, four Burkinabé soldiers were killed and five others wounded in Nassoumbou. From 3–4 February, jihadists are reported to have massacred 14 civilians in Kaïn , 80 kilometres from Ouahigouya . On 4 February,
7056-854: The Government of Burkina Faso and Islamist rebels began in August 2015 and has led to the displacement of over 2 million people and the deaths of at least 10,000 civilians and combatants. The war has been interpreted as being the Burkinabé theatre of the insurgency in the Sahel . Blaise Compaoré , president of Burkina Faso from 1987 to 2014, treated Islamists somewhat better than French colonial officials did. Compaore's Mauritanian advisor, Moustapha Ould Limam Chafi , and General Gilbert Diendéré , both contacted several Islamist leaders in order to free hostages held by these groups. Burkina Faso acted as
7200-461: 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
7344-539: The Lions Club in Naples, she came in contact with many officers and officials from NATO . With the use of facial recognition software, Maria Adela was identified as Olga Kolobova, a spy of the GRU. Kristyan Benedict , an Amnesty International campaign manager, told The New Yorker in 2013 that many organisations had analysts but that Higgins was faster than many established investigation teams. According to
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#17327759640247488-711: The OPCW findings on the Douma chemical attack , which took place in spring 2018. In May 2018, in partnership with Forensic Architecture and Venezuelan journalists, Bellingcat collected, timed, and located nearly 70 pieces of evidence related to the El Junquito raid , including videos, photographs, leaked audio of police radio communications and official statements, asking for more material to determine if rebel police officer Óscar Pérez and his companions were victims of extrajudicial killings . Bellingcat published that in
7632-594: 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
7776-660: The Syrian civil war . Its reports on the Russo-Ukrainian War (including the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 ), the El Junquito raid , the Yemeni Civil War , the poisoning of Alexei Navalny and the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal , and the killing of civilians by the Cameroon Armed Forces have attracted international attention. The name derives from the idiom " belling
7920-406: The Tigray War that started in November 2020 in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia , Bellingcat, together with BBC News Africa Eye and Newsy , published a geolocation analysis of five videos of what appeared to be an extrajudicial execution of 15–73 Tigrayans by soldiers of the Ethiopian National Defense Force speaking Amharic , one of the main national languages. The victims were thrown off
8064-468: 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
8208-402: The attack on Nassoumbou . On the first of January 2017, an Imam and defect from Asarul Islam was assassinated in Tongomayel . Two months later, a teacher was murdered in the village of Kourfayel Samorogouan [ fr ] , Soum province . On 22 March, the leader of Ansarul Islam , Harouna Dicko, was shot dead in Pétéga by security forces. By this point, a total of 70 people,
8352-426: The chemical attack in Ghouta (the Ghouta chemical attack ) to Bashar al-Assad . Bellingcat's first major investigation, done mainly by volunteers without external funding, was the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) in 2014. Their conclusion that Russia was responsible was later confirmed by the Dutch-led international joint investigation team (JIT), which found in a report dated 25 May 2018 that
8496-430: 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
8640-441: 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 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
8784-462: The Bellingcat platform (in its beta version) on 14 July 2014, raised £50k of private donations in the following month through the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter , and performed additional crowdfunding in 2017. Half of funding comes from grants and donations, the other half from running workshops training people in the art of open-source investigations. Bellingcat has received grants from Civitates-EU , Porticus [ Wikidata ]
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#17327759640248928-704: 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
9072-440: The IDPs. On 12 June, at least six people were killed in Alga, Bam Province . On 15 June, 7 members of the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland were reported to have been killed by armed attackers in Bouroum, Namentenga Province . Bellingcat Bellingcat (stylised bell¿ngcat ) is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). It
9216-427: The Islamist insurgency has been described as a possible motive for the coup, which received unusual popularity. The junta's leader, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba , is well-known for his widely popular military operations against Islamists. Damiba has also replaced government ministers (such as Gilbert Noël Ouédraogo ) perceived to have handled the insurgency poorly with more popular figures. Allegations have arisen in
9360-486: 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
9504-418: 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
9648-469: 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
9792-649: The Levant , and other combatants . Bellingcat reports primarily analyse the factions at war, and what weapons and armour they utilise, as well as news that would normally go unreported by the mainstream media. Bellingcat utilises a network of contributors who specialise in open source and social media investigation, and creates guides and case studies so others may learn to do the same. In April 2014, Bellingcat published evidence of chemical weapons being used on Syrian civilians, including children. Collecting and analysing video footage from local sources which apparently showed parts of chlorine cylinders, Higgins said that while
9936-452: The MH17 flight. The report, which included photographs and maps, details the movements of the Buk in eastern Ukraine on 17 July, evidence that the Buk originated from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade in Kursk, Russia, along with a convoy headed towards the Ukrainian border, and the activity of the vehicles seen in the same convoy after 17 July. The Dutch-led international joint investigation team later made similar findings. The head of
10080-403: 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 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,
10224-635: The NED and OSF pay for Bellingcat programmes to help journalists and researchers in their investigations. He said that most "funding from grants covers stuff that isn't related to investigating anything Russia related." Bellingcat received a €500,000 cash prize from the Nationale Postcode Loterij of The Netherlands ; it used these funds to open a new office in The Hague in 2019. The Bellingcat website noted it receives financial contributions from various companies as well as special discounts and in-kind donations such as software access and platform resources. On 17 July 2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 ,
10368-568: The Netherlands' National Crime Squad said they officially concluded that the missile that shot down MH17 "is from the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade from Kursk in the Russian Federation". In June 2015, Bellingcat published evidence that Russia had used Adobe Photoshop to manipulate satellite images of the MH17 disaster. Image forensics expert Jens Kriese of Germany said that Bellingcat's report used invalid methods to reach its conclusion. In
10512-674: 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 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 ,
10656-545: The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) unit specialised in the use of chemical agents had been tailing opposition leader Alexei Navalny since the moment he announced his plans in 2017 to run in presidential elections, and had agents near his location Tomsk in Siberia when he was poisoned with the military-type Novichok nerve agent in August 2020. They also suggested similar patterns in
10800-549: 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 a Wagner convoy headed towards Moscow . The mutiny was halted
10944-405: 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 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
11088-425: 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
11232-400: 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
11376-599: 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
11520-612: 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
11664-635: The West Papuan independence movement with pro-Indonesian government content. BBC journalist Benjamin Strick wrote that "The campaign, fuelled by a network of bot accounts on Twitter, expands to Instagram, Facebook and YouTube." In April 2020, Twitter removed propaganda accounts linked to the government of Indonesia. Bellingcat has also reported on the attack on the United States Capitol by Trump supporters of 6 January 2021, as well as
11808-527: The actions of the same undercover agents during an earlier visit by Navalny and his wife to Kaliningrad , when she fell ill with symptoms similar to those of his later poisoning. Navalny's assessment is that in Kaliningrad the agents had tried to poison him, but his wife received the Novichok by mistake. The investigation was published on 14 December, revealing the names of both the direct perpetrators of
11952-702: The aftermath of the coup that the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration may hire mercenaries from the Wagner Group in the future. Damiba had called earlier to hire Russian mercenaries against the Islamists, but was forbidden to do so by Kabore. On 27 January, France confirmed that from 15 to 23 January 2022, more than sixty recorded jihadists had been "neutralized" in four separate incidents by Burkinabé soldiers working together with French units. Ten members of Ansarul Islam died during
12096-605: The application was denied and her identity was marked as unknown. Bellingcat interviewed various acquaintances of Maria, who told them her cover identity: a girl left behind by her mother on a holiday to the Soviet Union for the 1980 Summer Olympics . Those living near to her childhood address in Moscow report never having heard of her. In addition to this, researchers noticed a similarity between Maria Adela's Russian passport and that of other GRU agents. As an executive member of
12240-475: The army reportedly neutralized 146 jihadists in the departments of Kaïn , Banh and Bomborokuy . Human Rights Watch alleged that the military had carried out several summary executions in the process. The Burkinabé Movement for Human and Peoples' Rights reported that no evidence was found of an attack carried out by terrorists in Kain on that date, and that about sixty civilians were executed without trial by
12384-602: The attack. On 15 January 2016, terrorists attacked the capital city of Ouagadougou , killing 30 people. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Al-Mourabitoune both took responsibility. In 2016, the number of attacks spiked after a new group Ansarul Islam , led by imam Ibrahim Malam Dicko , was founded. The group is particularly active at the border territories of Mali and Burkina Faso . A large proportion of attacks have been focused on Soum province . On 16 December, Ansarul Islam killed dozens of people in
12528-525: The cat ", which comes from a medieval fable about mice who discuss how to make a cat harmless. One mouse suggests hooking a bell around the cat's neck, making it unable to move without being heard. All the mice support the idea, but none is willing to do it. Eliot Higgins' interest in OSINT began in 2011, when he was arguing in comments of The Guardian and found out that it is possible to verify videos with satellite imagery. In March 2012, he started
12672-491: 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
12816-816: 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
12960-437: 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 the employee's contract without paying
13104-707: The contents of the cylinders could not be verified "the injuries depicted in the videos all appear to be consistent with chemical exposure". In June 2016, Bellingcat published an article showing that cluster munitions were being used against the New Syrian Army . Bellingcat provided photographic evidence from first-hand sources that the munitions used were identical to those used by the Russian military . In February 2017, Bellingcat published an article detailing how rudimentary drones were being used by ISIL to drop explosives onto opposition targets. Analysing footage from Twitter and other social media platforms, it
13248-416: The country's East, supported by French forces. On 3 December, gendarmes successfully repelled an ambush at Bougui, ten kilometres from Fada N'Gourma, killing six assailants and injuring another. On 1 January 2019, armed men murdered twenty people in the village of Yirgou , Barsalogho department . The villagers, mostly ethnic Mossis , (who form 52% of Burkina Faso 's population) responded by massacring
13392-488: The country, according to the French and Burkinabe militaries. The Burkinabe government claimed to have killed the leader of jihadists operating in the Kelbo area. The Burkinabe military claimed to have lost one soldier killed, and two wounded in the operation, and captured many weapons, including improvised explosive devices. On 23 January, military officials overthrew Kabore's ruling government. Government failures to quell
13536-650: The country, slaying 15 and injuring 11. On 9 October, three gendarmes, one rebel, and one civilian were slain during a battle in Samorogouan [ fr ] , Hauts-Bassins . On 31 May 2016, three police officers were shot dead in Intangom. On 1 September 2016, a team of two to four jihadists murdered a customs officer and a civilian in Markoye , injuring three others. Two days later, Sahrawi terrorist Adnane Abou Walid Al-Sahraoui accepted responsibility for
13680-799: The downing of MH17 was initiated by the Russian military. In other investigations using Google Earth , volunteer investigators working with Bellingcat said that they had discovered the coordinates of an Islamic State training camp, as well as the site where an American journalist was killed. Since 2018, the Bellingcat website is operated by the Dutch Stichting Bellingcat [ Wikidata ] . ( tr. Bellingcat Foundation ). The organisation publishes guides on how to analyse data and how to create reports, such as "How to Scrape Interactive Geospatial Data" and "How to Identify Burnt Villages by Satellite Imagery". As of 2019 ,
13824-737: The edge of an escarpment after being shot. The date appeared to be mid-January 2021 and the location was found by Bellingcat and the other investigators to be near the village of Mahbere Dego , about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Aksum , where the Aksum massacre , one of the main massacres of the Tigray War, had earlier been carried out by the Eritrean Defence Forces , mainly during 28–29 November 2020. Bellingcat reported on an information operation in Indonesia targeting
13968-526: The fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt , who took part in the attack. It has reported on Babbitt and the influence of QAnon and other conspiracy theories, which they liken to the process of radicalisation . In 2021, Bellingcat launched an investigation of Maria Adela Kuhfeldt Rivera, a supposed jewellery designer from Peru. In 2005, Maria Adela had filed an application to be inscribed into the country's citizen database. Due to lack of proof of actual birth in Peru,
14112-410: 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
14256-505: 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 the Russian government not officially acknowledging them. In March 2017, Radio Liberty characterized
14400-564: 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
14544-555: 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 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
14688-610: The majority of them soldiers, gendarmes and police officers, had been killed in a series of 20 attacks. Between 27 March – 10 April 2017, the governments of Mali, France, and Burkina Faso launched a joint operation named " Operation Panga ", composed of 1,300 soldiers from the three countries, in Fhero forest, near the Burkina Faso-Mali border , considered a sanctuary for Ansarul Islam . On 5 April, Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin detonated an improvised explosive device on
14832-508: 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
14976-705: The massacre. As a result of this investigation, the US withdrew $ 17 million in funding for the Cameroonian Armed Forces and the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning "torture, forced disappearances , extrajudicial killings perpetrated by governmental forces". After Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport in Iran on 8 January 2020, Bellingcat analysed
15120-819: 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
15264-478: The missile launcher" which shot down MH17. In July 2019, Bellingcat released a six part podcast series, produced by Novel Audio , taking an in-depth look at their investigation. An additional two episodes were released in July 2020. On 21 December 2016, Bellingcat published a report which analysed cross-border Russian artillery attacks against Ukrainian government troops and in support of pro-Russian separatists in
15408-540: 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
15552-436: 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 was likely caused by an explosion on board, and it
15696-523: 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
15840-457: The official story, and possible links to the Russian secret service. The Russian foreign ministry rejected the report and stated that Bellingcat had ties to western intelligence. It noted Bellingcat's access to a not publicly available Russian database. Two men had been seen and pinpointed as likely to have carried out the attack; Bellingcat said it had identified one of the suspects as decorated GRU colonel Anatoliy Chepiga . The other suspect
15984-552: The organisation had sixteen full-time staff plus Higgins, and at least 60 contributors. Its office was previously located in Leicester ; however in 2018, Bellingcat shifted its main office to Amsterdam , in the Netherlands as a result of the impending Brexit and concerns over staff recruitment and mobility. Since 2021, Bellingcat has also had a presence in a new Investigative Commons centre in Berlin , Germany. Higgins launched
16128-463: 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
16272-534: The outlets were banned due to "posing a threat to the security of the Russian Federation." Higgins responded to the ban by stating, "Bellingcat has no legal, financial or staff presence (in Russia), so it's unclear how Russia expects to enforce this." In February 2023, it was reported that Bulgarian investigative journalist and Bellingcat director Christo Grozev chose to live in exile from his home in Austria due to
16416-416: 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
16560-590: The photo as a composite of Google images, with the Malaysian airline logo even being misplaced. On 9 November 2014, the Bellingcat MH17 investigation team published a report titled "MH17: Source of the Separatists' Buk ". Based on evidence from open sources, primarily social media, the report links a Buk missile launcher that was filmed and photographed in eastern Ukraine on 17 July to the downing of
16704-494: The poisoning and the assassination attempt from the FSB. The 2022 documentary film Navalny features Bulgarian Bellingcat journalist Christo Grozev uncovering the details of a plot that indicates the involvement of Putin. According to later investigations, the same team of FSB officers has poisoned several other people in Russia, including opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza and writer and poet Dmitry Bykov . During
16848-547: 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
16992-560: The purpose of provoking an emotional reaction in less Internet-savvy viewers". Bellingcat assisted the BBC's Africa Eye investigation into the killing of two women and their children by members of the Cameroonian Armed Forces . This followed the appearance of a video on social media in July 2018, initially dismissed as "fake news" by the government of Cameroon before later acknowledging that 7 soldiers had been arrested for
17136-544: 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,
17280-734: The soldiers. On 15 February, the Centre-Est region experienced its first attack. Four Burkinabés and a Spanish priest were killed at a customs post in Nohao , close to the border with Togo . According to Human Rights Watch , between mid-2018 to February 2019, at least 42 people were murdered by jihadists and a minimum of 116 mostly Fulani civilians were killed by military forces without trial. From 31 March to 2 April, ethnic clashes between Fulani, Kurumbas , and Mossis killed 62 people in Arbinda . In 2019, Jihadist groups began to start
17424-745: 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
17568-542: The summer of 2014. During the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine that was started in February 2022, Bellingcat wrote about several findings of cluster munition in Ukraine. The organisation also collects evidence of war crimes against civilians in Ukraine . In particular, it includes information about the airstrike of the Drama Theater and maternity hospital in Mariupol . Bellingcat's website maintains
17712-594: The suspects. A report in The Guardian stated that "Bellingcat has frequently sparred with Russian military and diplomatic officials, who have claimed without evidence that Bellingcat fabricates evidence and is a front for foreign intelligence services". Russian media have said that Bellingcat is funded by the U.S. government to undermine Russia and other NATO adversaries. Following the Christchurch mosque shootings of 15 March 2019, Bellingcat published what
17856-464: The vicinity of MH17 was debunked as falling debris from MH17 by experts. A man claiming to be a Spanish air traffic controller in Kyiv stated in interviews that two Ukrainian fighter jets followed the Malaysian plane. The Spanish embassy later said that there was no Spanish air traffic controller at either of Kyiv's airports. The satellite image showed an aircraft firing on the airliner but Bellingcat exposed
18000-725: The village of Béléhédé. On 22 June 15 villagers in Sagho and Toekédogo, Barsalogho department , were killed, and on the night of 25–26 July, 22 other villagers died in a massacre in Dibilou, nearby the city of Kaya . According to the ACLED , armed violence in Burkina Faso jumped by 174% in 2019, with nearly 1,300 civilians dead and 860,000 displaced. On 4 January 2020, a bus carrying mainly middle school students blew up after it ran over an explosive device between Toéni and Tougan , resulting in fourteen deaths. On 20 January, jihadists attacked
18144-486: The villages of Nagraogo and Alamou, inside Barsalogho , Sanmatenga , and massacred 36 civilians. The next day, the Parliament of Burkina Faso adopted a law permitting the recruitment of civilian militias called Koglweogo to fight the jihadists. The idea was initially proposed by president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré in November 2019. On 25 January, the village of Silgadji was attacked again, this time with
18288-499: The violence had decreased. Their convoy was ambushed in the middle of the night, ten kilometers from Pissila . 25 male refugees, approximately half of the convoy, were murdered by the attackers. All women and children were spared. From 4–5 June, unknown militants massacred over 170 people in the villages of Solhan and Tadaryat . On 20 August, jihadists killed 80 people in Gorgadji , including 59 civilians. November became one of
18432-491: 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
18576-589: The year's bloodiest months for Burkina Faso. On 14 November, the Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin attacked a gendarmerie in Inata , killing 53 people, including four civilians. The attack remains the heaviest loss of life by the Burkinabe military during the insurgency, and a major morale loss in the country. On 21 November, an attack in Foubé resulted in nine soldiers dead and ten civilians killed. In December,
18720-465: 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
18864-588: 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
19008-417: 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 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
19152-525: Was designated as a " foreign agent " in Russia. On 15 July 2022, it was banned in Russia alongside its partner The Insider , which is headquartered in Latvia . Following this restriction, any Russian citizen who aids Bellingcat or The Insider may face criminal prosecution; they would also be restricted from citing their publications. The office of the Prosecutor-General of Russia said that
19296-410: Was discovered that the drones were dropping modified 40 mm grenades . In September 2016, Bellingcat released a fact-checking article in response to Russia denying the bombing of hospitals in Syria. The article analysed footage from YouTube and images from Facebook, cross-referencing them with areas that were confirmed to be attacked by Russian forces. The article reported that the hospital in question
19440-420: 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
19584-427: 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 , the capture of Svitlodarsk ,
19728-421: Was founded by British citizen journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in July 2014. Bellingcat publishes the findings of both professional and citizen journalist investigations into war zones, human rights abuses, and the criminal underworld . The site's contributors also publish guides to their techniques, as well as case studies . Bellingcat began as an investigation into the use of weapons in
19872-539: Was identified as GRU colonel Alexander Mishkin . In June 2019 Bellingcat reported that major-general Denis Sergeyev had travelled to London as "Sergei Fedotov", and appeared to have commanded the operation, making and receiving many telephone calls with a single Russian "ghost phone" without an IMEI . Bellingcat analysed position data from Sergeyev's phone to trace his movements in London, following its successfully gaining access to travel, passport, and motoring databases for
20016-554: 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
20160-416: 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
20304-415: 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
20448-436: 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
20592-440: 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,
20736-424: Was within the area under Russian attack, although Russia denies these claims. In March 2017, Bellingcat published an investigative report on the bombing of a mosque in Aleppo that killed up to 49 civilians. The article included photographs of the remnants of the bomb used, and showed that the piece was identical to that of similar bombs used by the US military. In 2019 and 2020, Bellingcat published reports on
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