PMC Wagner

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Wikipedia:

The Wagner Group (Russian: Группа Вагнера, tr. Grupa Vagnera), also known as PMC Wagner, ChVK Wagner, or CHVK Vagner (Russian: ЧВК Вагнера, tr. ChVK Vagner, Russian: Частная Военная Компания Вагнера), is a Russian paramilitary organisation. Some have described it as a private military company (or a private military contracting agency), whose contractors have reportedly taken part in various conflicts, including operations in the Syrian Civil War on the side of the Syrian government as well as, from 2014 until 2015, in the War in Donbass in Ukraine aiding the separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. Others are of the opinion that ChVK Wagner is really a unit of the Russian Ministry of Defence in disguise, which is used by the Russian government in conflicts where deniability is called for.

Sources

Private military companies in Russia according to Ukrainian disinformation agency InformNapalm
List of names and personal data of alleged Wagner conscripts found on the dead body of a ISIS fighter in Deir Ezzor
Wagner fighters in Palmyra in 2017

Does "Wagner" exist?

Yes, as of January 14, 2023 they officially exist.
See also PMC arrests in Belarus for fake claims.

'They are not there'

  • Коротко по Дейр-эз-Зору -Cassad, 12 February, 2018
    officially PMCs are not there. Until the law on PMCs is adopted, it will continue. According to the first version of the law, PMCs were to be subordinate to the RF Ministry of Defense, according to the second version - the FSB. In any case, in this scheme, one of the departments bore at least a formal responsibility and could be expected to take a more distinct position. And so. no one can even clearly explain which agency should be responsible for PMCs and their losses. After all, officially in Russia there are no PMCs. And de facto, there are.
  • From Khrustalik summary after interviewing wounded fighter:This was not a PMC in the general sense of the word. People signed a contract with the campaign "Euro policy" and went to civilian specialties, like locksmiths, surveyors, topographers and so on.

Prigozhin

"Concord Management And Consulting", LLC

  • "Concord Management And Consulting", LLC . General director Utkin Dmitry Valerievich. Founder, Prigozhin Evgeniy Viktorovich. Main activity: restaurants and food delivery services. The number of employees is 101-250 people.
    • The company is among those indicted by Mueller.
    • Evgeny Prigozhin denies link with PMC Wagner. Individual taxpayer numbers of Utkin Dmitry Valerievich -director of "Concord Management And Consulting" is not the same as such number of Utkin Dmitry Valerievich -commander of a military unit 75143, liquidated in 2014. It is said that 'Fontanka' also claimed a difference of taxpayer numbers of the Concord director and 'Wagner'. (Situation is unclear; a separate Syrian oil exploration company was linked with Prigozhin, with 'Wagner' supposedly to guard those assets; not much is known about a different Utkin, if there is any).
    • After the start of the war, February 2022, the existence of Wagner, and the role of Prigozhin is no longer denied, and in fact acquired significant media presence

ISIS Hunters

Shoulder patch used by ISIS Hunters in Syria. Western media claim – without evidence – that the PMC Wagner Group uses a similar patch.
A "Russian" solder with an ISIS Hunters patch in the Zaparozhia Oblast in May 2022
ISIS Hunters patch seen in Donbass in May 2022
See also US airstrike on ISIS Hunters, February 7, 2018

Central African Republic?

Three Russian filmmakers (operator, director, reporter) were killed in CAR, when their car was fired on near a checkpoint, possibly in a robbery (they had some money and professional equipment). It is said that they were investigating reports on presence of Wagner group, in addition to Russian advisers. Mikhail Khodorkovsky possible sponsorship of the project is mentioned in some of the reports (Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his media group appear to indicate some partnership on a PMC project, publish footage with the three men).

Beheading video

Libya

December 2019. Possibility of Russia and Turkey backing fighters on opposing sides is discussed in mass and social media, e.g.:

To explain those entries: apparently, Turkey is putting pressure on Russia to halt SAA offensive in Idlib, assisted, at least, by RU aviation strikes. Russian response is likely along the lines that they are in Syria legally on the invitation of Syrian government, and further along international law lines, to justify air strikes, etc. Erdogan and co may be using 'pivot to Libya' + advertisement of Wagner presence in Libya as a way to counter this line, militarily, diplomatically, or both, say using, or threatening, air strikes in Libya on Wagner's, with international law positions in reverse. This is at least very clearly the line taken by Russian patriotic opposition, who fear that their side may be expendable in those games. --Resup (talk) 02:54, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

"Wagner" social media accounts

Wagner movies

  • Among first media appearances is Luna -Palmira, October 3, 2019. Video link is no longer active, but there are audio and video versions of the song elsewhere
  • Tourist movie, May 2021
  • 🎬PMC Wagner | Best in Hell | 2022 (English subtitles) - video on YouTube
    Fictional war movie filmed in Popasna with real fighters and weapons.
  • Shugalei 4, 2023 is said to be (Cassad, 10 Feb 2023) in the works, based on 12 real-based stories. Shugalei 1-3 is an action movie serial, started in 2020

See also

Mutiny, July 23-24, 2023

Moved to Prigozhin's march to Moscow

Resurrection?

May 22, 2024. A blurred video emerged titled "In the Republic of Chad, on May 22, a historic meeting took place between representatives of the authorities of Chad and the Central African Republic", suspected of showing Evgenii Prigozhin (the one who has been the "Wagner's" boss, not one of his several rumored namesakes). Not blurred video not seen. Status of the claim unclear. {https://vk.com/wall-221293445_62111 1], 2, 3 --Resup (talk) 04:54, 24 May 2024 (UTC)

2024

  • Ambush in Mali - Cassad, July 27, 2024
    "In Mali, as a result of an ambush by militants in the north of the country, a significant number (undefined; "at least 15 killed or captured" reported by pro-Western sources) -- of Wagner PMC fighters and soldiers of the Malian Armed Forces were killed. The militants attacked under the cover of a sandstorm, achieving tactical surprise. Also, a significant number of government soldiers and several Wagner fighters were captured. Some have already been exchanged back, including "Lotus", who commanded the assault on Soledar. The exchanges took place with the mediation of the "African Corps" of the Russian Armed Forces.According to some reports, the administrator of the Grey Zone channel was among the dead" (last update there, at time of posting, is July 23)
    update, PMC killed , "about a platoon" (platoon would be from 15 to 60 fighters)
  • ДШРГ Русич (former commander) on tg: "more than 80 killed, more than 15 in captivity"
  • Stalina Gurevich
    The reconnaissance group of the 13th assault detachment was ambushed by the Tuaregs. Unfortunately, almost the entire group was killed, including the commander of the 13th assault detachment (call sign Prud), from 3 to 5 people (to be specified) were captured. Together with FAMA, the group consisted of 120 people, three groups: 60, 30 and 30 people. The Mi-24 was not shot down, it fell for a technical reason due to the failure of both engines, but the people from the helicopter are alive, fortunately, they escaped with injuries. The Lotus buried by "informed" channels was not there, as well as in Mali in general -he is in the Russian Federation.
    not really clear whether she says that the whole combined group was killed, or its reconnaissance subgroup. FAMA = Malian Armed Forces; the group consisted of PMC + FAMA, in unspecified mix
  • TASS confirms death in Mali of GZ tg admin "Belyi"; quotes low FAMA casualty number given by Mali authorities
  • Rybar version of July 20-27 battles and the map.
  • PMC statement, describing heroism of fighters - Rusvesna. Estimates opposing forces as about 10 times larger.

NB. All this does not address justification of this apparent boots-on-the-ground war of choice for liberation of the desert (typically mentioned are economic gains and sticking it to the French, perhaps for bait-and-switching Minsk agreements; with long standing grass-rooted patriotic counter-argument that all that is optional, spreading forces, creating losses and vulnerabilities, while nothing is really optional in Ukraine).

  • "Memorial event on Varvarka" - Cassad, August 5, 2024
    It appears that most of photos are old; eg there is a photo of Darya Dugina; of Alexey Mozgovoi (both unrelated to W.) ; there are photos with dates of death in 2014 (TV guy in black shirt); in 2023; placed in Bakhmut; etc. There are photos of the two founders, those reported killed in a plane crash. The only photo related to Mali appears to be a group photo, bottom/center, in the black frame, in front of an armored vehicle (first photo in this publication; see also here).
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