Before turning against the Kremlin, the mercenary group acted as the spearhead of the expansion of the Russian government’s influence in several countries around the globe, such as Syria, Mali, Sudan and Libya
According to an analysis by the U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Russia has made increasing use of paramilitary units and private military companies to expand its influence in recent years. Prominent among these companies is the Wagner Group, founded in 2014 by businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, which has gained prominence in recent days after its mercenaries turned on the Kremlin in a brief rebellion action.
The Wagner Group’s military, political, and economic importance has grown steadily in recent years. It is not always possible to track such activities in concrete terms, but it is estimated that the mercenary group operates in some 30 countries around the world, including Syria and Mali.
Europe
Russia’s war in Ukraine
Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Wagner Group has grabbed the headlines. It was first identified in 2014 in Ukraine’s Donbass region. Since then, the private army has grown steadily. “Today it is taken as almost certain that [Group] Wagner has 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, making it a key component of the invasion of Ukraine,” the British Ministry of Defense said in January. The head of the group himself, Yevgeny Prigozhin, recently spoke of some 25,000 men in his unit.
Among those recruited are mainly Russian inmates lured by the promise of amnesty. The Wagner Group has played a particularly important role in the heavily contested city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. In May, the group declared victory over Bakhmut and announced that the city would henceforth be handed over to the Russian army.
African Countries
The Wagner Group is particularly active in African countries. Here, the paramilitary unit acts mainly in defense of Russian interests, either through the extraction of raw materials, ruining the position of democratic actors or investing in disinformation campaigns.
Sudan
Sudan is considered one of the key countries for Russian influence in Africa. The Wagner Group has been active there for years and provides support to the military government. According to press reports, Russia’s main interest would be in access to valuable raw materials such as gold, manganese and silicon – in addition to uranium deposits.
“Prigozhin and his network have been using Sudan’s natural resources for personal gain and to expand their influence,” said former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. During the regime of dictator Omar al-Bashir, mining licenses for gold mines went to the Russian company M-Invest, allegedly controlled by the oligarch and head of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin. With this, Wagner’s security guards also gained the task of protecting M-Invest’s gold mines in Sudan.
Mali
Mali’s military junta also relies on Wagner’s Russian mercenaries. Independent advisors to the UN Human Rights Council suspect that the fighters are involved in serious crimes in the country, such as human rights violations and crimes against humanity. Since 2021, there have reportedly been “continuous and alarming reports” – specifically, there is talk of “appalling executions, mass graves, acts of torture, rape and sexualized violence, looting, arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances.”
Central African Republic
According to the Russian ambassador, some 1,890 “Russian trainers” are supporting government troops in the civil war in the Central African Republic. The group has reportedly taken on part of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s personal protection, helping to train the country’s army in order to prepare it for possible coup attempts. In exchange for its military and political support, the group would have access to mineral resources such as diamonds, gold, and timber.
As in Mali, the people of the Central African Republic are suffering from increased violence and human rights violations by Wagner’s officials. In a UN report dated June 2021, investigators documented numerous violations of international humanitarian law, including excessive use of force, killings of civilians, rape, torture, occupations of schools, and regular looting.
Arab States
Syria
In late 2015, members of the Wagner Group were confirmed for the first time in Syria after some were killed by anti-government militia fighters. Russia has been an ally of the country’s authoritarian government for many years, providing military support to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad since early 2015, with Wagner Group mercenaries actively fighting alongside regular Russian soldiers. It is estimated that at its peak, the Wagner Group was involved in the war in Syria with over 5,000 fighters. With the start of the war in Ukraine, however, Russian fighters were withdrawn from the Arab country, including from the Wagner Group.
Libya
In Libya, the Wagner Group has been acting as an independent force. Since 2014, after dictator Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in a revolution, the country has been effectively split in two, with one government in the east and another in the west. Wagner Group fighters are believed to have been in Libya since then. Their task would be to support the government in the east and its de facto head, former Libyan military chief Chalifa Haftar, in the areas of security and training. In 2019, they openly participated in Haftar’s attack on the government in western Libya in Tripoli.
About 10 tons of ammunition removed from civilian settlements on military land in the Al-Hira region, 75 kilometers south of Tripoli, Libya, on July 22, 2020.About 10 tons of ammunition removed from civilian settlements on military land in the Al-Hira region, 75 kilometers south of Tripoli, Libya, on July 22, 2020.
In the past, there were about 2,000 Wagner employees in Libya, but it is unclear how many are there today. The group is believed to have expanded its sphere of operation into neighboring Sudan.
In both Libya and Syria, Wagner Group fighters have been accused of torture, indiscriminate killing, and other war crimes.
The U.S. Department of Defense believes that the mercenary group also has ties to the United Arab Emirates and is paid by the Arab confederation to support Haftar in Libya.
Latin America
Venezuela
Apparently, Russia has also sent paramilitary units to Latin America. According to the Reuters news agency, members of the Wagner private army flew to Caracas in 2019 to provide security for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The Wagner Group is also believed to be helping Venezuela set up its own elite units.
Venezuela and Russia have close military and economic ties. The Russians are one of the Venezuelan government’s largest creditors: since 2006 they have lent about $17 billion to Caracas. In this way, Russia would be securing control of the world’s largest oil reserves in Venezuela.
Asia
Sri Lanka
According to CSIS analysis, the Wagner Group is not only active in countries on the African continent, but also in Asia. One of the places of operation would be Sri Lanka, although it is not known how exactly the troops would operate there, as in some cases this would involve very complex networks of different Russian paramilitary units.
A report by the American think tank New America shows links between the Russian security firm Moran and the Wagner Group, with several Moran employees openly stating that they have connections to the group – including in Sri Lanka.