Bloody Ties: What You Need To Know About Russian-Backed Mercenary Group Wagner

Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a Russian businessman and close associate of President Vladimir Putin, takes pride in his role as the founder and overseer of the Wagner Group since it was established in 2014. According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Wagner Group played a vital role in the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has since been regarded as a proxy for the Russian state in overseas operations.

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the group's prominence escalated. It deployed approximately 50,000 personnel over a 15-month conflict period, including 10,000 contractors and 40,000 convicts. As the efforts of the Russian military bore little fruit and the conflict stretched beyond the initially projected timeline, Putin increasingly leaned on the Wagner Group for results.

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The Times of London, early in the conflict, reported an alleged mission headed by the Wagner Group to topple Zelenskyy and his government. Consequently, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko imposed a 36-hour nightly curfew, cautioning residents that stepping outside could make them mistaken for enemy sabotage and reconnaissance teams.

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With increased dependency on his private forces, Prigozhin's domestic influence surged. However, his rash exercise of power alienated the Russian military command with whom he was required to collaborate. An associate of Prigozhin likened the mercenary chief to the mythical Icarus, who flew too near the sun and got burned.

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Prigozhin attempted to usurp power from the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, referring to him as "our biggest enemy, not the Ukrainians," according to an associate and two Western officials. The advent of Valery Gerasimov as the new chief of the general staff, Russia's top military official, saw Prigozhin's influence greatly wane as Gerasimov curtailed supplies to the mercenary force.

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With dwindling munitions needed for their campaign, Prigozhin threatened Russia's military command, proclaiming to the governor of the Russian city of Sverdlovsk, "During the 1941-45 war … Stalin simply shot people like you," and warning that "I'm sure that the time is not far off when people will reach boiling point and raise you and people like you up on pitchforks." This tension culminated on June 23 when Prigozhin accused Russian forces of attacking his group and initiated a march towards Moscow.

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The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken backed the European Union's move in December to sanction the Russia-supported Wagner Group and its associates for severe human rights abuses, including torture, extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings, and destabilizing activities in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic, and Ukraine's Donbas region.

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In January 2023, the U.S. designated the Wagner Group as "a significant transnational criminal organization," announcing additional sanctions against the group and its supporting network across various continents. Dr. James Anderson, former Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, remarked, "We've seen the Wagner Group active in the Middle East, certainly in Africa and even in Venezuela. They have caused no end of problems for U.S. policymakers, and there have been efforts to sanction some of their leaders."

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Furthermore, he added, "I would also note that they have been active in the breakaway republics in Ukraine for a number of years."

The Wagner Group has increasingly resThe Wagner Group has increasingly resorted to prison recruitment, often enlisting trained military veterans. Despite reservations by the Russian Defense Ministry about Wagner's recruitment methods, as indicated by U.S. intelligence, the group continued to source fresh troops from prisons until the new military command intervened, curbing this practice to diminish Prigozhin's influence.

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In a bid to exert pressure on the Russian military leadership, Prigozhin turned to the media. He interviewed a pro-war Russian blogger, expressing that his troops were at their last ammunition supplies. "Everything else will crumble," he warned if forced to withdraw his forces.

Prigozhin didn't mince words when talking about Russia's elites. "You scumbags are sitting in expensive clubs; your children are enjoying life and making YouTube videos," he derided. "You think you are the masters of this life and that you have the right to control their lives. You think that if you have ammunition depots then you have the right to them."

The Wagner Group, with its track record of human rights abuses and destabilizing activities across the globe, has become a critical concern for policymakers and international organizations alike. Its role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine has only intensified this concern. As the European Union and the United States enforce sanctions and measures to curb the Wagner Group's operations, the group's future and its founder, Prigozhin, remain uncertain.