The Russian mercenary group Wagner has signed a contract with a Chinese company to purchase two observation satellites, which will give it reconnaissance capabilities.
The contract between the Chinese company Yunze Technology Co. Ltd and a company close to the mercenary group dates from November 2022 and can be consulted by AFP. The sales price of the two satellites is 30 million euros.
The agreement also includes the custom supply of high-quality images from other satellites from Chinese space company CGST. The contract was signed with the Russian company Nika-Frut, a branch of a company owned by mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in August.
Used to prepare for an uprising against Putin
According to information from European security circles, some of the satellite images were used to prepare Wagner’s revolt against Russian President Vladimir Putin in June.
Wagner also commissioned satellite images of Libya, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Mali, where Wagner’s mercenaries pursue interests. The Chinese company CGST currently operates around a hundred satellites.
In April, during the fighting for the city of Bakhmut, Prigozhin boasted to his own people that he had satellite images of the region. “Who else has reconnaissance satellites in this country besides us?” he asked on Telegram at the time.