Read on Twitter
1/ The big news in #Belarus yesterday was the arrest of 33 Russian mercenaries from the “Wagner Group” + the Belarusian govt’s claim there could be 200 others aiming to destabilise the coming election.
But what/who actually is the Wagner Group?
THREAD https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/07/29/belarus-detains-33-wagner-mercenaries-ahead-of-presidential-election-report-a71014
But what/who actually is the Wagner Group?
THREAD https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/07/29/belarus-detains-33-wagner-mercenaries-ahead-of-presidential-election-report-a71014
2/ The Wagner Group is a Russian private mercenary group that has assisted the Russian army in Europe, Middle East+Africa. Moscow denies any connection but it is by now well documented that the group is armed, trained and funded by the Russian state. https://www.fpri.org/article/2019/10/diplomacy-and-dividends-who-really-controls-the-wagner-group/
3/ It is believed to be closely connected to or owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin: a billionaire nicknamed “Putin’s chef”, indicted by US special counsel Robert Mueller for running troll farms to interfere with elections https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/11/yevgeny-prigozhin-who-is-the-man-leading-russias-push-into-africa
4/ It is known as “Wagner” after the call-sign of its commander, Lt. Col. Dmitri Utkin. Until 2013 he was an officer in the 2nd Spetsnaz Brigade, based in Pskov, before joining the Moran Security Group, a registered private security company that specialises in maritime protection
5/ @Markgaleotti: “a company like Wagner is simply an extreme example of the prevailing “hybrid business” model. It looks like a private sector body, and sometimes it will act as such, but whenever it is needed by the state, it is pressed into service…” https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/chvk-wagner-and-privatisation-of-russian-geopolitics/
6/ The Wagner group first saw action in #Donbas Eastern #Ukraine in 2014-15 including at the Battle of Debaltseve. Then – as now - Russia denied the existence of its troops in Ukraine https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/sbu-readies-charge-russias-wagner-mercenaries-war-donbas.html
7/ The group then played a key role in Russian operations in #Syria, with an estimated 2000 fighters. They guarded strategic facilities and spearheaded attacks such as on Palmyra in March 2016. They were well trained and well armed. https://www.fontanka.ru/2017/08/18/075/
8/ In February 2018 hundreds of Russians of the Wagner Group fought Americans in “one of the single bloodiest battles the American military has faced in Syria” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/world/middleeast/american-commandos-russian-mercenaries-syria.html
9/ The mercenary group has since then expanded its activities to a number of countries, especially in Africa
map via @fpri
map via @fpri
10/ Most recently it has been present in #Libya fighting for the Russian-backed rebel Libyan National Army (LNA) of Khalifa Haftar https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/elite-russian-mercenaries-wagner-group-run-out-of-tripoli-by-turkish-forces-j5bqcmjlz
11/ The Wagner Group is useful to the Kremlin for a few reasons. First, it allows the Russian government to maintain the fiction that Russian soldiers haven’t taken heavy losses where they have been deployed, which has been important in maintaining public support
12/ Second, it allows Moscow to avoid accountability for brutal methods used by its men. One example: There is video evidence of Syrian Hamdi Bouta being tortured and killed by members of the Wagner Group, who will probably never face justice. https://novayagazeta.ru/articles/2020/04/21/85017-golovorezy-2-0
13/ Third, its low cost. It isn’t part of any published budget + as a private entity has considerable freedom to finance its own operations. In Syria, it reportedly helped seize control oil fields for Assad in exchange for a percentage of output
14/The Wagner Group has been keen to stay in the shadows as journalists have learnt to their cost. Those looking into them have been threatened https://twitter.com/XSovietNews/status/1052936784412377089?s=20
15/ 3 investigative journalists making a documentary about the Wagner Group were killed while in the Central African Republic in July 2018 https://www.rferl.org/a/three-russian-journalists-reportedly-killed-in-central-african-republic/29401654.html
16/ So what were the mercenaries doing in #Belarus? Possibly using Minsk as a transit spot to Africa. But it does now seem likely this was a staged plot by Lukashenka ahead of the election + very much in coordination with the Kremlin. /END https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1288806712875589633?s=20
