What Is The Wagner Group?

Wagner Group mercenaries in Bangui, Central African Republic, on May 1, 2019.

Unless you’ve been on the battlefield in Syria, Libya, or the Central African Republic, you’ve most likely never heard of the Wagner Group, a private military unit with close ties to President Vladimir Putin in Russia.

Wagner troops have appeared in Ukraine, presumably to fight alongside Russian troops in Putin’s war. In the past month, the number of Wagner troops in the country has more than tripled to over 1,000. Their presence in the eastern region known as Donbass, home to Russian-backed separatist groups, is a concern given the group’s history. UN investigators and human rights groups say Wagner troops targeted civilians, carried out mass executions and looted private property in conflict zones.

You should know this about Wagner:

How did Wagner’s beginnings come about?

The company was first formed in 2014 during Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The US government said the organization is funded by Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, a Russian businessman and close ally of Putin. He’s been dubbed “Putin’s Chef” because of his catering business, which hosts lavish state banquets for Putin.

How did the group get its name?

The group reportedly got its name from the combat name of its leader, Dmitri Utkin, a retired Russian military officer. Utkin is said to have chosen Wagner to honor the composer, who was a favorite of Hitler. Although the Kremlin denies any connection to Wagner, Utkin was photographed next to Putin.

Where is the group located?

The group is not registered as a legal entity anywhere in the world. Mercenaries are illegal under Russian law. Their shadowy existence allows Russia to downplay its casualties on the battlefield and distance itself from atrocities committed by Wagner fighters, observers say.

“It’s operating in a situation of opacity, there’s a real lack of transparency and that’s the whole point,” said Sorcha MacLeod, chair of the United Nations working group on the use of mercenaries, which the group has been studying. Their structure allows them to have plausible denial and “create distance between the Russian state and the group,” she said.

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Why are the mercenaries in Ukraine?

As Russia suffers heavy casualties, US intelligence sources say, Putin is sending battle-hardened reinforcements with experience to Ukraine, according to experts including Jeremy Fleming, director of Britain’s Electronic Surveillance Agency.

“These soldiers are likely to be used as cannon fodder to try to limit Russian military casualties,” he said.

Where do you recruit?

Some of the fighters appear to have been recruited from Syria and Libya, Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said. He said Russia appears to be turning to them to reinforce its troops in eastern Ukraine, as the group has had combat experience in the Donbass region for the past eight years.

Where were Wagner powers used?

In addition to their involvement in Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, and Ukraine, Wagner activists have also fought in Sudan, Mali, and Mozambique, exerting Russian influence through proxies, following the orders of authoritarian leaders, and at times seizing oil and gas fields or securing others material interests. They have become increasingly formalized and have started behaving more like Western military companies.

“There’s a trend or pattern to what happens when Wagner is involved in an armed conflict,” MacLeod said. “The conflict is protracted, involves heavy weaponry, civilians are severely affected, human rights abuses and war crimes are escalating, and there is no access to justice for the victims.”