According to a European security source, some of those images even helped him prepare for his mutiny in June, the biggest threat Russian President Vladimir Putin has faced in two decades in power.
And it raises the question: What did China know about the Wagner Group’s plans against its Russian ally?
According to a commercial agreement written in English and Russian and signed on November 15, 2022, the company sold Beijing Yunze Technology Co. Ltd for 235 million yuan (about 31 million dollars or 164 million reais at the price at the time). NikaFrut, a company from the Prigozhin Galaxy, two very highresolution observation satellites (75 cm) from the Chinese space giant Chang Guang Satellite Technology (CGST).
The agreement also provides for the provision of images of the CGST constellation upon request. According to the European security source, this allowed Wagner to obtain images of Ukraine and Africa (e.g. Libya, Sudan, Central African Republic and Mali) where his mercenaries operate.
There is a threat of an uprising
According to this source, at the end of May 2023, the Russian company even ordered around 80 images of Russian territory, particularly the route between the Ukrainian border and Moscow that the mercenaries took during their brief mutiny the following month.