Elite soldiers abroad: Wagner? “Just one of 32 Russian mercenary companies”

elite soldiers abroad
Wagner? “Just one of 32 Russian mercenary companies”

By Kevin Schulte
7/4/2023, 7:38 p.m

Wagner fighters are active in at least a dozen countries. The Russian mercenaries have been fighting and killing not only in Ukraine, but for several years primarily in Africa so that Russia can obtain lucrative mineral resources. But Wagner is not alone.

The march on Moscow stopped halfway, mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin in exile in Belarus. The future of the Wagner group is open after the historic past weekend in Russia. President Vladimir Putin has given the fighters three options: return to Russia with their families, join the regular Russian military, or go to Belarus like their boss.

But that seems to be only half the truth, as Russia, in the words of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, wants to continue fulfilling its “obligations on the African continent”. It is unlikely that Russia can meet these “obligations” without the Wagner mercenaries. After all, Prigozhin’s group has been active not only in Ukraine, but also outside of Europe for several years – in Syria, Venezuela, but above all in Africa.

Estimates range up to 5,000 Wagner mercenaries stationed in Africa. “At least 1600 to 2000,” that can be said with certainty, says Severin Pleyer in the ntv podcast “Learned something again.” Pleyer is a researcher at the Bundeswehr think tank German Institute for Defense and Strategic Studies (GIDS). One focus of his work is research into private military companies, such as Wagner was long thought to be.

Combat name of Hitler admirer Utkin

The mercenary group was founded in 2014 by Dmitri Utkin and Yevgeny Prigozhin, among others. Uktin, a former lieutenant colonel in Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, has a penchant for Nazi ideology. His combat name “Wagner” became the name of the new combat unit, based on Richard Wagner, Adolf Hitler’s favorite composer. The oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin is also known as “Putin’s cook” because his catering company used to cook for the Kremlin boss, among others.

Shortly after it was founded, Wagner took on tasks in Syria. The mercenaries have been fighting alongside ruler Bashar al-Assad for almost ten years now. However, the focus of their military operations outside of Ukraine is on the African continent. Wagner is present in at least twelve countries, says expert Pleyer. It is likely that the troops are active in other countries. The Wagner activities have so far been suspected in many countries, but have not yet been proven everywhere down to the last detail. It is estimated that Wagner is or was at times already in use in up to 30 countries.

“The problem is that the Wagner group operates under the umbrella of the Concord holding company. This is a construct that includes more than 60 companies that we know of. Gold companies, mine operators, but also shares in Rosneft,” explains Pleyer. The expert explains that Concord Holding should raise money for the Russian state. “That’s why Wagner is not a private military company in the classic sense, but a semi-state actor.”

Gold and diamonds for Russia

The modus operandi is almost the same everywhere: Wagner supports corrupt governments in exchange for access to natural resources – gold, uranium, silicon and much more. “Let’s take the example of the Central African Republic. The president is specifically protected and supported there. The main business model is to offer military protection in exchange for money or the right to mine diamonds or gold,” Pleyer explains the Wagner principle.

Wagner has also been involved in Sudan for several years. Initially, the Russian fighters supported dictator Omar al-Bashir. After his fall in 2019, the Kremlin sided with the Sudanese military, which eventually overthrew the transitional government at the end of 2021. Finally, the Wagner group made weapons available to the RSF militia, as CNN has revealed. In return, the militia chief is said to have promised the Russian president a military base on the Red Sea. The Kremlin has also kept an eye on Sudan’s gold, diamond and uranium deposits.

Lots of turnover in the mercenary companies

In these projects, Moscow is not only relying on Wagner. Pleyer reports in the podcast that there are now reliable findings about 32 Russian mercenary companies of all sizes. The Russian energy giant Gazprom, for example, has its own troops. The Ministry of Defense is also building its own mercenaries with the “Patriot” unit, which Minister Shoigu is said to have sent to the Ukraine war at the end of last year.

“The mercenaries move back and forth between these organizations, they only ever sign contracts for two to six months and always switch to the highest bidder,” Pleyer explains the procedure.

According to the expert, the mercenaries are special forces, almost all of whom have received regular training from the armed forces of the Russian Federation. “These are mostly former GRU soldiers, they are the elite of the so-called Spetsnaz, the special units, so to speak. In terms of the level of training, they can best be compared with Navy SEALs.”

“Wagner is overrated”

The mercenary troops have the advantage that for years they had nothing to do officially with the Russian state. Mercenary companies are banned by law in Russia. The Kremlin has pointed this out again and again and, in the event of unpleasant inquiries, denied the connections, for example to Wagner. Only after the events surrounding the attempted march on Moscow did Putin have to admit that the Prigozhin mercenary company was financed entirely from the Russian state budget.

The United Nations have repeatedly reported on the brutal actions of the Wagner fighters in recent years. Executions, rapes, mass graves and looting are not uncommon when Wagner is active. “Human rights violations are the order of the day, that’s to be expected,” Pleyer makes clear.

Wagner’s importance is also overestimated because of this particularly brutal procedure and the media attention that is often associated with it, Pleyer analyzes in “Wieder was Lern” (“Again, learned”). Compared to the other Russian mercenary troops, Wagner seeks the limelight more, and their boss Prigozchin “managed to present Wagner to the public as an effective military machine.” However, the reality sometimes looks different. “Yes, they are effective fighters, but not in a conventional ground war.”

In Bakhmut, for example, Prigozhin made sure “that his elite fighters weren’t worn out,” reports Pleyer. Wagner most likely “sent poorly trained prisoners in a targeted manner to know where the enemy was firing from”. Only by resorting to the artillery and fighter planes of the regular Russian military could the enemy actually be pushed back.

But Russia is unlikely to do without the services of mercenaries in the future. From the Kremlin’s perspective, they are still in good hands, especially in Africa. Especially since they pose no threat to Moscow there.