Wagner Group Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin Killed in Plane Crash

Wagner Group

PMC Wagner, also known as Wagner Group, is a Private Military Company with its headquarters in Russia. The organisation is thought to be a private military contractor with connections to the Russian government. However, it’s crucial to remember that given the secrecy of such organisations, information about PMC Wagner is frequently scarce and open to conjecture.

Wanger Group Latest Update

Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin had been killed in a plane crash, alongside nine other people. Russia’s civil aviation body said the mercenary boss was on the manifest of the crashed jet, while Interfax report that 10 bodies were recovered from the crash site – which is around 185 miles (297.73 km) north of the capital Moscow. Rumours continue to swirl across all social media platforms as all manner of conspiracy theories and possible explanations – all unverified – are disseminated.

Yevgeny Prigozhin Plane Crash

• A plane, which had been travelling from Moscow to St. Petersburg, crashed near the village of Kuzhenkino;
• Yevgeny Prigozhin, alongside his right-hand man and eight others, were on board and were killed, according to Russia’s civil aviation authority;
• Wagner-linked Telegram channels proclaimed the mercenary boss to be dead;
• Interfax reported that 10 bodies had been recovered;
• Unnamed sources told Russian media they watched the plane get shot down by surface-to-air missiles, although this is unconfirmed;
• Shocking footage of the crash showed the plane spiralling completely out of control before crashing into the ground;
• There has been no word from the Russian Ministry of defence or the Kremlin on the matter as of yet;
• Joe Biden said he would “not be surprised” if Prigozhin is confirmed dead;
• Tributes, including Wagner Group flags, have been laid at the crash site;
• An ex-MI6 officer claimed a contract was out for the life of Prigozhin.

Wagner Group Chief Prigozhin Killed

• Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group who led an aborted mutiny in June, was listed as a passenger on a jet that crashed north of Moscow.
• A Telegram channel associated with the Wagner Group claimed that Prigozhin was among the dead.
• Russian officials said all 10 people on a private Embraer Legacy aircraft that crashed while flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg had died.
• For months before the mutiny, Prigozhin mocked and criticized Russia’s top military brass, accusing it of incompetence throughout the war in Ukraine.

Wagner Group Background

The mercenary group, formally known as the PMC Wagner, came to light in 2014, amid Russia’s takeover of Crimea. Essentially a network of contractors, the organisation established a new headquarters in St. Petersburg in 2022 and registered as a company.  Only 5,000 fighters made up the Wagner Group, which continued to operate mostly in Africa and West Asia while maintaining a high level of secrecy. But over the years, it grew to include “50,000 fighters” in Ukraine alone, according to a January statement from the UK Defence Ministry. According to reports, 80% of its soldiers in Ukraine were recruited from prison.

The Wagner Group attracted attention on a global scale for its suspected participation in a number of conflicts, including those in Syria and Ukraine, where it is believed to have provided military support and people. The organisation is well known for hiring and sending mercenaries, mostly ex-military men, to work in conflict areas for their customers.

It is important to note that the Russian government has not formally acknowledged PMC Wagner’s existence, and it is still unknown exactly how the two parties are connected. Additionally, Wagner’s activities and operations are frequently contentious and give rise to legal and ethical questions.

Yevgeny Prigozhin

Prigozhin is the organization’s owner and leader. The 1961-born Russian oligarch served nine years in a Soviet prison for robbery and fraud during his 20s. However, after his release and the fall of the Soviet Union, Prigozhin started on an “entrepreneurial path. He began by selling hot dogs but soon opened a posh eatery in his birthplace of St. Petersburg that became popular with Russian elites, including then-vice mayor Vladimir Putin. He started out by selling hot dogs.

Relationships with influential people aided Prigozhin in growing his firm. Additionally, Putin received numerous federal contracts after being elected president. As a result, Prigozhin became known as “Putin’s Chef”. However, the businessman found that the substantial profits from the food market weren’t enough, so he eventually entered the field of offering private military duty.

Wanger Group & Yevgeny Prigozhin

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner and head of the Wagner Group, claimed he had taken control of Rostov-on-Don in an effort to overthrow the military leadership following months of escalating tensions between the two parties. Prigozhin has posted a series of recordings on social media, accusing the Russian military of attacking Wagner encampments and killing “a huge number of fighters.” He has also asserted that the Russian generals misled Putin about the justifications for the conflict with Ukraine.

Wagner Group Active in Countries

In addition to Ukraine, the Wagner Group has purportedly operated in other African and West Asian nations. According to media accounts, it frequently exchanges access to gold and diamond mines for its services with other countries.

Syria

After the annexation of Crimea, the group’s militants reappeared in Syria in 2015, where Putin had chosen to intervene four years earlier due to the country’s terrible civil conflict. Despite suffering substantial losses, the Wagner Group assisted President Bashar Assad in gaining land while fighting with the Syrian and Russian military.

Sudan

The group arrived in the nation for the first time in 2017 under the rule of previous autocratic President Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown two years later. Al-Bashir obtained security and logistical help from the Wagner Group in return for which “Prigozhin received exclusive rights to gold mining in Sudan, channelled through his M-Invest company,” according to the American research organisation Brookings Institution. It is currently known to control shares in Sudan’s enormous gold and uranium deposits, and diamond mines, and to provide Darfur with hired fighters.

Central African Republic

In order to defend President Faustin-Archange Touadéra from numerous rebel factions, the organisation came to the Central African Republic in 2018. In order to help combat serious Islamic offences, it has trained the nation’s army as well as local security services. The Wagner Group has got permission to mine for diamonds and gold in exchange.

The Wagner Group has also been charged with grave human rights crimes, including the murder of civilians, home invasions, and harassment of activists, journalists, and peacekeepers. According to the NYT, the organisation mostly targeted areas where Prigozhin’s enterprises conducted diamond mining.

Mozambique

Following the development of the al-Shabab insurgency in the nation’s north, the Mozambican government invited the Wagner Group in 2019. 160 of the organization’s fighters were swiftly sent into the area of fighting, but the militants soon killed several of them. Wagner Group eventually had to withdraw its troops because, according to the Brookings Institution, it misunderstood “the local insurgency and the indigenous military forces with which it had to collaborate.” However, the organisation continues to have a presence in Mozambique.

Mali

Hundreds of Wagner mercenaries, according to experts, have been hired by the pro-Russian, anti-Western military government that arose after the coup in 2021 to combat extremism in the Sahel region. The gang is accused of committing war crimes in the nation, murdering hundreds of innocent civilians in its countless attacks, and has access to Mali’s uranium, diamond, and gold mines as possible payoffs.

There were more than 1,645 Wagner employees in Mali, according to previously released US intelligence records, and the group may use Mali as a pawn to buy weapons from Turkey.

Burkina Faso

According to a Wall Street Journal story, the Wagner Group is currently negotiating a new security contract with the Burkinabe military administration, which recently demanded that French forces depart after fighting for around ten years against Islamic terrorists.  The group reportedly organised “a months-long Burkinabe social media campaign accusing France of failing to stop jihadists or even arming them.”

Libya

Since 2019, the Wagner fighters have been stationed in Libya to assist the warlord Khalifa Hifter. The group has been given authorization to mine in residential areas in exchange for giving guidance, support, and training to local forces. The Wagner Group, like other foreign mercenary and militia groups operating in the nation, has defied the Berlin Conference’s call for them to leave.

Wagner Group UPSC

A paramilitary group in Russia is called The Wagner Group, also referred to as PMC Wagner. The club is thought to have been created in 2014 by a Russian Chechen War veteran who so liked Hitler that he chose Richard Wagner as the group’s name in honour of the Führer’s preferred composer. The Wagner Group’s emblem is a skull. When the group was battling with separatists supported by Russia in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine in 2014, it first caught the attention of the international community. In recent years, the group has also been active in other parts of Africa, including Libya, Sudan, Mozambique, Mali, and the Central African Republic.

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