Last Saturday, on the fringes of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, an unprecedented event took place: the Wagner group, on the orders of its leader Evgueni Prigoyine, rebelled against Putin. He began a march towards Moscow, but stopped 200 km from the capital, and then turned back. Suffice it to say that Russia trembled and that the lack of understanding was overwhelming. So it’s time to come back to what happened. But first, let’s take a look at the Wagner Group, a creepy organization.
The Wagner group consists of mercenaries
This means it is a paramilitary organization that can be hired by any country or person with enough money to fund it. The soldiers are therefore not assigned to a specific country, but form a “private” force that can be “hired” to carry out military operations.
The Wagner Group has other sources of financing
In addition to receiving money from those who hire them (Putin in this case), the Wagner Group also invests in mining (e.g. in Sudan) and oil and gas exploration, particularly in Syria. It’s called income diversification, like in “any” business.
The Wagner Group has always been very close to Russia
We first heard about the Wagner Group in 2014, during Russia’s annexation of Crimea. And if they went with Putin, it was no coincidence, because the Wagner organization was unofficially under the control of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Moreover, their leader Prigoyine was photographed next to Putin in the Kremlin back in 2016, proving the closeness between Wagner and Russia. However, because Russia has a ban on using a private paramilitary force like Wagner, the country has always denied having any ties with them. In reality, to circumvent the law, Russia pays companies close to Prigozhin, who then donate some of their money to Wagner to fund his campaigns. This is an open secret, especially since Wagner’s soldiers have Russian equipment and train on Russian facilities. They don’t do it to us.
The Wagner group consists mostly of prisoners and neo-Nazis
A large part of the soldiers of the Wagner organization are recruited in prison: they are promised freedom, in exchange for six months at the front. This is all good for Russia, as it allows them to sacrifice soldiers without having to “count” them to Russian losses. You should also know that most Wagner members are neo-Nazis, Russian nationalists and Slavic identities. In short, nice people.
The origins of the Wagner group are neo-Nazi
The organization was founded by one Dmitri Utkin, a former lieutenant colonel in the Russian army known for being neo-Nazi nostalgic of the Third Reich. He also decided to name his group “Wagner” in homage to the German composer Richard Wagner, who was admired by Hitler and whose music became one of the Aryan symbols of the Third Reich. Therefore, it is difficult to distance the Wagner group from Nazi ideology.
The group would number between 25,000 and 50,000 men
In December 2022, the Pentagon counted around 50,000 soldiers in Wagner’s ranks; today, according to their leader Prigojine, there are still at least 25,000. Of course, it’s difficult to learn more about it since it’s complicated to get accurate information about this organization, but you should know that it’s quite large for a private army.
Numerous war crimes are suspected of the Wagner group
Its members are said to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Mali, Libya, the Central African Republic, Syria and Ukraine. We are indeed dealing with men who lack morals and are capable of massacring civilians or killing their own deserters by banging their heads against concrete blocks with sledgehammers. The worst thing is that lately they’re happily revealing their “feats” on TikTok like the whole world needs to see it. In short, humanity would gain much if the Wagner group disappeared forever.
The leader of the Wagner group is nicknamed “Putin’s Butcher”
Yevgeny Prigozhin is a Russian oligarch who, as we said, is close to Putin. A ex-felon serving multiple prison sentences for theft and fraud, he began opening hot dog fast food outlets in the hospitality industry and made a fortune. The sequel is a bit vague, but Prigojine became the leader of the Wagner paramilitary group in 2014 and remains at the helm to this day. Nicknamed “Putin’s Butcher” is his own, but it fits well with his personality as a man who sows mass graves and horribly executes deserters wherever his troops pass. The guy you don’t want to meet.
Prigozhin is no longer so close to Russia
For a year Prigoyine had been at odds with the Russian generals and authorities, whom he insulted and accused of turning Wagner into cannon fodder. In particular, he criticizes the Russian invasion, which he considers poorly organized and which he describes as a “complete disaster”. In short, things are not going well between him and Putin (whom he calls a “stupid grandfather”), and these tensions peaked on June 24.
Wagner almost marched to Moscow
This brings us to what happened on the night of June 23-24, 2023. After several months of conflict between Putin and Prigoyine, the latter decided to launch an uprising and sent his troops towards Moscow. His 25,000 men advanced rapidly while the Russian army was still mobilized at the front, and Putin spoke up to call Prigozhin a traitor. Eventually, however, Wagner stopped 200 km from the capital before Prigojine announced that he would be backing down. Putin has since dropped his charges against Prigozhin and Wagner, suggesting there were negotiations between the two sides. What did Putin promise Prigozhin to stop his coup? We don’t know at the moment, we may never know, but what is certain is that it has pretty much weakened the Russian power, which seems to be very weak. We will see what effect all this will have on the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine.