In Africa, political instability and security failures from various sources in countries are a boon for private paramilitary companies, which offer their services to the highest bidders, while acting with the utmost discretion. In recent years, one of them has particularly distinguished itself by its rapid expansion, to the chagrin of Western powers, which it has even managed to overshadow.
Active for many years in the world, particularly during the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, in Syria, and in Africa, the Wagner group has established itself in just a few years as a direct competitor of Western powers whose France.
According to an investigation conducted by the BBC, the Wagner group was born of the initiative of two men, including a former Russian army officer, veteran of the Chechen wars, former special forces officer and lieutenant-colonel of the GRU, the service Russian military intelligence, Dimitri Utkin, and the one commonly called “Putin’s Shadow” or “Putin’s boss” Evgueni Prigojine, Russian oligarch who made his fortune thanks to his restaurants.
It was first in Libya in 2016 that the Wagner group set up shop on the African continent in support of forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar. On this occasion, more than 1,000 mercenaries from the group contributed to the progress of Haftar’s regime towards the capital Tripoli to confront the official government in place, until 2019.
If the Wagner group is one of the best known and most active PMCs (private military company) in the world, it nevertheless remains very enigmatic. As Tracey German, professor of conflict and security at King’s College London, explains: “Leading a mercenary army is against the Russian constitution. However, Wagner provides the government with a force that is undeniable. Wagner can get involved in abroad and the Kremlin can say: it has nothing to do with us.”
Indeed, the Russian government has always denied any involvement with the military company. However, thanks to the investigations carried out by the BBC which made it possible in particular to lift the veil on the strong men at the head of this organization, it was discovered that the Wagner group has its training base in Mol’kino, in the south of Russia, near a Russian army base.
On the basis of an agreement signed between the Central African government and Russia, large stocks of weapons were transported to Bangui with, in addition, Russian instructors who came to provide their expertise. At the same time, sources indicate that this arrival of the Russian military served as a cover to bring agents linked to the Wagner group into Central African soil and that they even set up their first base of influence there on the African continent, composed of more than 2500 men. The actions of the hitherto secret Wagner Group began to alert the international community in 2019 when suspicions emerged of alleged involvement in acts of human rights violations.
Informed, the UN therefore decided to open an investigation into the acts of torture allegedly committed by members of the Wagner group.
Its role, hitherto secondary, took on another dimension when its members began to act with greater autonomy without the Central African state forces.
Of all the acts of political violence recorded by ACLED (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data) between December 2020 and May 2022 in the CAR, nearly 40% would have seen the participation of the Wagner group.
During this period, the mercenaries of the group reportedly engaged in acts of political violence in all the prefectures of the CAR, with the exception of Haut-Mbomou and Sangha-Mbaéré.
After Libya and the CAR, it is now Mali’s turn to host the theater of the Wagner group’s activities. Indeed, soldiers from the Russian private military company have been hired by the Malian government to provide protection against Islamist groups. In March 2022, operations carried out by the Malian army and the forces of the Wagner group reportedly caused 200 to 400 victims, including civilians and children, in the village of Moura, in central Mali.
The Malian government has claimed that this attack is part of an anti-terrorist operation in the region, categorically denying the involvement of Wagner’s Russian forces, which is denied by the French, American and British intelligence services, which would have collected contrary information using drones and satellites that roam the area.
Also present in Sudan where it was cited in a gold mining case, the group is suspected of having been involved in Burkina, in the DRC… How far will it go? And above all, what future impact in the context of international relations?
About Author
