Russia’s private military force, explained

Inside the Wagner Group’s playbook.

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On January 10, 2023, the Ukrainian town of Soledar was reportedly captured. But it wasn’t captured by the Russian army under Vladimir Putin’s command. The announcement came from a relatively unknown man, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who said his troops now controlled the town. The troops are part of the Wagner Group, a private army that has become a prominent force alongside Russian troops in the war against Ukraine.

But they aren’t new. They've been secretly fighting for Russia around the world since 2014. In this video, we take a look at their playbook and examine the three main steps they use to spread Russian influence around the world in brutal ways. We also look at how they’ve transformed from a ghost army to a recognizable private military group with insignias and an online brand, changing the nature of this secret group and its role in the world.

Sources and further reading:

Candace Rondeaux’s detailed report about the Wagner Group can be found here:
https://www.newamerica.org/internatio...

For a summary of Syria’s ongoing conflict, we recommed this brief overview by CFR:
https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-t...

If you’d like to understand France’s role in Mali in more depth, check out this Q&A by CSIS:
https://www.csis.org/analysis/end-ope...

And to get a more detailed understanding of Wagner’s arrival in Mali, including additional satellite imagery, check out this CSIS investigation:
​​https://www.csis.org/analysis/trackin...

For a more in-depth look at the mass grave linked to Wagner Groups in Mali, you can read and watch France 24’s coverage here:
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20...

This UN report (in French) provides an overview of the human impact the conflict and the Wagner Group have had on civilians in Mali:
https://minusma.unmissions.org/sites/...

You can find the full transcript of the 2017 meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and then-president of Sudan Omar Al-Bashar here:
http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president...

This investigation by OCCPR reveals the links between Wagner’s gold mining ties and Sudanese military companies in detail:
https://www.occrp.org/en/investigatio...

To understand how the Wagner Group brands itself and shows up online and around the world, we checked Prigozhin’s telegram account here:
https://t.me/concordgroup_official/254

And Reverse Side of the Medal, the Wagner Group’s unofficial telegram account:
https://tlgrm.ru/channels/@rsotmdivision

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