The sarcastic and mocking image that the leader of the Wagner Group mercenaries Prigozhin transmitted to his favorite channel Telegram shows a dog by the sea, who…
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The sarcastic and mocking image of the leader of the mercenary group wagner, Prigozhin, on his favorite channel Telegram, portrays a dog by the sea sipping a beer from a straw. This is where the former chef writes PutinWarlord and self-proclaimed conqueror of Bachmutthe perfect portrait of a “Wagnerian” at the end of the battle, even if in reality the battle is not over yet and the Ukrainians are advancing on the flanks and, according to the ISW, the Institute for War Research, “encirclement of Wagner’s troops”.
MISSION HALF
Prigozhin knows full well that he cannot appear triumphant in front of the thousands upon thousands of his militiamen who are sent to slaughter a handful of rubble. The Ukrainian generals had prophesied him a future as a rat in a trap that can neither advance nor retreat: in front are the newly organized armed forces of Kiev, behind the “Knife Brothers” of the Russian Defense Ministry. And then, according to an analysis by Foreign Affairs, all that remains for him to do is return to his “sickness for Africa”. He mastered it best at his job: security operations (including personal ones) in a number of African states threatened by jihadist terrorism and internal revolution: from Mali to Burkina Faso, from Sudan to the Central African Republic, but also in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. and if not armed with Kalashnikovs, then at least with computers and hackers to control the voting in the elections. Always in an anti-European and anti-American tone. Indeed, in recent months, already scenting a failed victory over Bakhmut, Prigozhin has been ruthless enough to repeatedly write public letters directly to the White House, proposing to devote his forces to the continent’s “security and stability.” bundle up . And with an astute reference to humanitarian operations, he launched the “Wagner Saves Africa” project. Of course, nothing is done for free. Not to mention Prigozhin, who is “paid for” by the heads of state and government of Central Africa and the Sahel (see Sudan) with mining concessions and the exploitation of the rich gold deposits.
THE NEXT STEPS
Foreign Affairs writes that Wagner offers genuine “Faustian blackmail” from the Sahel to the Horn of Africa and Maputo. A piece of soul in exchange for security. “Wagner does a backflip towards Africa?” While Prigozhin realized his full potential in Ukraine and now has little to offer, he is not destined to “be forgotten”. And it could move its mercenary units from the Donbass to the Sahel, where many of its “mercenaries” came from. In the words of Telegraph columnist Dominic Nicholls, one of the reasons Prigozhin’s militiamen did not break through at Bakhmut, but had to advance meter by meter over the bodies of their slain comrades, is that “they are used to using guns in the city.” guerrilla warfare” as it is fought in Africa, while “in Ukraine you have to know how to fight with tanks in the open field”.
As a result, Wagner’s troops were in dire need of effective flank cover, but this failed when their leader persistently hurled insults at the defense minister. shoigu. The Institute for War Research argues that the mercenaries realized by the end of December that they were at the peak of their mission. “And now it is unlikely that they will continue to fight beyond Bakhmut in the degraded state of power they are in.” No more offensive operations. It’s time to get on the defensive, a war not for mercenaries born of aggressive hand-to-hand combat in Africa. The American decision to include the Wagner organization among international criminal organizations is likely to result in a return of the West to Africa, where not only has Prigozhin pursued and consolidated Moscow’s interests (his own and Putin’s, both sensitive to gold), but also Russia replaced the order solution advocated by the French legionnaires until a few years ago. Thus, the Ukrainian risk stretches from the Black Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Prigozhin’s ambition knows no bounds, even reaching America and aiming for Haiti. The Ukrainian scenario has turned out to be a death trap, the struggle for the Kremlin a mirage. The horror multinational, “the orchestra”, as it likes to call itself, entrenches itself in the places of “first love”. Africa.
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