Exiled governor Serhiy Haidai said on Sunday 11/12 that Ukrainian forces attacked one of the bases belonging to the Russian mercenary group Wagner in Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, in the Donbas region.
According to him, a hotel where the group stayed in Luhansk, Kadiivka was shot? and heavy losses on the Russian side.
The BBC was unable to independently verify the Wagner Group’s presence in the area.
In 2014, the Wagner Group appeared in the Donbass region to support pro-Russian separatists in forcing the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces.
British military intelligence indicates that there are at least 1,000 mercenaries stationed in the area.
The group has recently operated in places like Ukraine and Syria, and in some African countries, and has been repeatedly accused of war crimes and human rights abuses.
What exactly is the Wagner group doing in Ukraine?
Wagner Group mercenaries are believed to have been involved in a series of “false flag” (political or military action with the intent to hold an opponent accountable) attacks in eastern Ukraine. The aim would be to give Russia an excuse to attack.
Wagner first appeared in the area in 2014, according to Tracey German, professor of conflict and security at King’s College London in England.
“About a thousand mercenaries supported pro-Russian militias in the struggle for control of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions,” he says.
Three Wagner Group mercenaries are accused by Ukrainian prosecutors of committing war crimes in April in the village of Motyzhyn, near Kiev, in joint operations with Russian troops.
War crimes include murder and torture, according to prosecutors. Two of the mercenaries are from Belarus, the third is from Russia.
German intelligence suspects that Wagner Group mercenaries may also have been involved in the killing of civilians in Bucha during the withdrawal of Russian forces from Kiev.
And now, according to Samuel Ramani, associate member of the Royal United Services Institute, members of the Wagner Group are fighting alongside regular troops in the Donbas region.
“The Wagner Group played an active role in the capture of cities such as Popasna and Severodonetsk in Lugansk,” he notes.
“These days, it is an unofficial, unofficial unit of the Russian army and no casualties are reported.”
Ukrainian forces claim that in addition to claiming that the Wagner Group managed to attack the Poposna base in Lugansk, they also attacked other bases near Stakhanov in June.
How did the Wagner Group come about?
A BBC investigation has uncovered an allegation that a former Russian officer, 51-year-old Dmitri Utkin, was in the group. It is believed that he founded Wagner and gave the group its name because of its nickname in the army.
Utkin is a veteran of the Chechen wars, a former special forces officer, and a lieutenant colonel in Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.
According to German, the Wagner Group saw conflict during Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
“It is against the Russian constitution to command an army of mercenaries. But Wagner gives the government undeniable power. Wagner may meddle abroad and the Kremlin may say, ‘We have nothing to do with this.'”
Some experts suggest that Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, secretly finances and oversees the Wagner Group.
Mercenary sources told the BBC that their training base in Mol’kino, in southern Russia, is next to a Russian military base.
Russia systematically denies any involvement of the Wagner Group with the state.
The BBC investigation into Utkin’s affiliation with the group also drew attention to the role of oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as “Putin’s chief”.
Many of Prigozhin’s companies are now under US sanctions for their “malicious worldwide political and economic influence”. He has always denied any affiliation with the Wagner Group.
In September 2022, a recording was released in which Prigozhin tried to recruit Russian prisoners to fight for the Wagner Group in Ukraine.
Prigozhin tells the prisoners that their sentences will be reduced if they join the group.
Where is Wagner Group activity recorded?
In 2015, the Wagner Group began operating in Syria, fighting alongside pro-government forces and protecting oil fields.
Since 2016, he has been actively supporting forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar in Libya. Up to 1,000 Wagner mercenaries are believed to have participated in Haftar’s crackdown on the official government in Tripoli in 2019.
In 2017, Wagner Group was invited by the Central African Republic to protect its diamond mines. There are also reports that he is working by protecting gold mines in Sudan.
In 2020, the US Treasury Secretary said that Wagner “served the front” for some Prighozin miners in these countries, such as M Invest and Lobaye Invest, and imposed sanctions on them.
More recently, the government of Mali in West Africa has asked the Wagner Group to provide security against Islamic militant groups. His arrival in 2021 influenced France’s decision to withdraw its troops from the country.
Colonel Ibrahim Traoré, who seized power in a military coup in Burkina Faso, has stated that his government is willing to work with the Wagner Group to fight Islamic State militants who control much of the country.
Ramani says that outside of Ukraine, the Wagner Group has about 5,000 mercenaries operating around the world.
And he explains that since the start of the war in Ukraine, the group has gained much more visibility.
“In Russian cities, it openly recruits on billboards, and the Russian media considers it a patriotic organization.”
What crimes would Wagner commit outside of Ukraine?
Both the United Nations (UN) and the French government accused the Wagner gangs of raping and robbing civilians in the Central African Republic, and in response the European Union imposed sanctions on them.
In 2020, the US Armed Forces accused Wagner mercenaries of planting mines and other types of explosive devices around the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
“The irresponsible use of mines and booby traps by Wagner members harms innocent civilians,” said Rear Admiral of the US Army Africa Intelligence Command.
– This text was published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-63914431.
source: Noticias
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.