Wagner Group: A Russian private army that the West dreads

Focus: Wagner Group

By Venkatesh Raghavan*

The shadow private army of Russia which had been instrumental in winning many a proxy battle in the mineral-rich oil fields of African and Asian countries, dubbed as the Wagner Group piloted by Yevgeny Prigozhin is currently out in the open fighting shoulder to shoulder alongside Russian troops in Ukrainian territory of Bakhmut. Though the toll has mounted high for Wagner’s paramilitary outfit, made evident by mass graves for the Russian troops on Ukrainian soil, they seem to have gained almost full control of the territory.

The pyrrhic military gains for Russia in the Bakhmut territory after months and months of open combat have also brought out the role played by the Wagner Group in Russia’s away-from-home battlefields. Unlike in previous instances when the official Russian line was in denial mode of being engaged in combat by using proxy soldiers from the private Wagner military outfit, the current scenario is witnessing an open publicity round that brands the Prigozhin-led Wagner unit as a symbol of patriotism.

As of now, the Wagner paramilitary outfit has succeeded in purchasing the much-needed time for Russian troops planning a massive counter-offensive. In fact, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to brazenly mount his global ambitions to expand areas of influence that will benefit Russia on its geopolitical map. Currently, the Wagner Group is acting as an umbrella outfit for providing military training, political and military advice, intelligence gathering and launch of combat operations. What more? Many eyebrows have been raised after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spilt beans saying it can function even in the violence-hit Sudan if they want, considering it is a private company. This made the United States remark that any entity that is taking actions in Sudan that is going to contribute to further destabilization and contribute to further violence, that’s something that the United States would “certainly not welcome”. The US considers the Wagner Group a destabilizing force “throughout the African continent”. On January 23, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) even designated the Group as a “significant transnational criminal organization”. On June 20, 2017, too, OFAC designated the Wagner Group for being “responsible for or complicit in, or having engaged in, directly or indirectly, actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine”.

The Wagner Group’s formation has its roots in the annexure of Crimea, way back in 2014. Besides, part of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Eastern Ukraine too witnessed the presence of soldiers without the official Russian insignia.

Initially, the Wagner foot soldiers were labelled as “Little Green Men.” At that point in time, all mention of the Wagner Group was only in rumours and grapevine of the Russian militia. On paper or according to official communiqués the group did not exist. In fact, as per government policy, there was no scope for any private military company to operate on behalf of Russia. As of today, the Wagner Group is playing a forefront role. To offset any shift in the balance of power, it’s learnt that under Putin’s stewardship, the Russian defence ministry has started directly recruiting prisoners to augment its war efforts in Ukraine.

While Prigozhin is pitching strongly for winning Putin’s favour, there is no pitch towards any move to usurp the seat of power as the former already has a good number of enemies in Russia’s Kremlin. Besides, in the event of the Ukraine war coming to an end, Priogzhin’s usefulness to the Kremlin will cease to be. Being aware of what can be in store, Priogzhin has given sound bytes about making the Wagner Group into an ideology-based outfit. He is known to have said that this will enhance the effectiveness of the paramilitary outfit. This comes in the wake of Russia’s need for military presence and engagement in several African countries, including the Central African Republic of Libya.

Eying the prospects of not having any recourse to safe retirement, Priogzhin has also announced the setting up of multiple recruitment centres for the training and mentoring of military cadets. The units also plan a “catch them young” policy by availing schools and sports clubs. Little surprise therefore that a US State Department spokesperson said recently, “When we see them engage in any country, we find that country end up being more vulnerable, more prone to destabilization, more prone to threats. And so, we are working collectively with our allies and partners to curb the influence of the Wagner Group, of course on the African continent but elsewhere as well”.

*Senior journalist