A defaced mural in Belgrade glorifies Russia's mercenary group, reading: Wagner Group - Russian knights. AFP
A defaced mural in Belgrade glorifies Russia's mercenary group, reading: Wagner Group - Russian knights. AFP
A defaced mural in Belgrade glorifies Russia's mercenary group, reading: Wagner Group - Russian knights. AFP
A defaced mural in Belgrade glorifies Russia's mercenary group, reading: Wagner Group - Russian knights. AFP

What is the Wagner Group?


Holly Aguirre
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Russia's Wagner Group made headlines last week when the US declared it a transnational criminal organisation — but what is the shadowy private army and what has it done to deserve such a designation?

The paramilitary organisation is widely known to be a proxy for the Russian military and is thought to be financed by Kremlin confidant Yevgeny Prigozhin, a catering magnate nicknamed “Putin’s chef” who has also been hit with US sanctions.

After years of denying any links to the Wagner Group, Mr Prigozhin admitted in September 2022 that he had “founded” the organisation.

It was Moscow’s proclivity for ad hoc policymaking that moulded the group, developed under a shroud of secrecy as Russian President Vladimir Putin sought ways to justify his country's involvement in Ukraine and Syria.

Graves of Russian Wagner Group fighters in a cemetery near the village of Bakinskaya, Russia. Reuters
Graves of Russian Wagner Group fighters in a cemetery near the village of Bakinskaya, Russia. Reuters

The Wagner Group has been supplying soldiers to aid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, though it has had boots on the ground since 2014, when it aided separatist forces in the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.

The company is believed to be in command of about 50,000 troops in Ukraine. The US National Security Council estimates that about 80 per cent of its troops were plucked from Russian prisons, having been offered clemency in return for fighting in Ukraine.

By using mercenaries, Mr Putin is able to plead plausible deniability and also fudge the numbers of soldiers killed in battle.

Despite mercenary forces being illegal in Russia, last year, the Wagner Group registered as a company, opening a new headquarters in St Petersburg.

“It is openly recruiting in Russian cities, on billboards, and is being named in Russian media as a patriotic organisation,” Samuel Ramani, of the Rusi think tank, told the BBC.

The Russian Ministry of Defence reportedly supplies the group with military equipment and the Task Force Rusich, which led the 2014 charge in Donbas, is populated by and has ties to neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, according to the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

In February of last year, Mr Putin justified his invasion of Ukraine as a “denazification”.

Pro-Wagner Group propaganda on the streets of Belgrade, Serbia. EPA
Pro-Wagner Group propaganda on the streets of Belgrade, Serbia. EPA

In addition to activities in Ukraine, members of the Wagner Group are alleged to have played roles in widespread human rights abuses in parts of Africa.

“Wagner personnel have engaged in an ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity, including mass executions, rape, child abductions and physical abuse in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.

UN experts on Tuesday also reported “persistent and alarming accounts” of mass atrocities, torture, summary executions and other brutal crimes allegedly carried out by the organisation, as well as government forces, in Mali.

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Key facilities
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  • 400m Olympic running track
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Infobox

Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier, Al Amerat, Oman

The two finalists advance to the next stage of qualifying, in Malaysia in August

Results

UAE beat Iran by 10 wickets

Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by eight wickets

Oman beat Bahrain by nine wickets

Qatar beat Maldives by 106 runs

Monday fixtures

UAE v Kuwait, Iran v Saudi Arabia, Oman v Qatar, Maldives v Bahrain

DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin

Director: Shawn Levy

Rating: 3/5

THE SPECS

Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now

Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Stage 2

1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix 4:18:30

2. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:06

3.  Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:06

4. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:06

5. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:08

SUE%20GRAY'S%20FINDINGS
%3Cp%3E%22Whatever%20the%20initial%20intent%2C%20what%20took%20place%20at%20many%20of%20these%20gatherings%20and%20the%3Cbr%3Eway%20in%20which%20they%20developed%20was%20not%20in%20line%20with%20Covid%20guidance%20at%20the%20time.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22Many%20of%20these%20events%20should%20not%20have%20been%20allowed%20to%20happen.%20It%20is%20also%20the%20case%20that%20some%20of%20the%3Cbr%3Emore%20junior%20civil%20servants%20believed%20that%20their%20involvement%20in%20some%20of%20these%20events%20was%20permitted%20given%20the%20attendance%20of%20senior%20leaders.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22The%20senior%20leadership%20at%20the%20centre%2C%20both%20political%20and%20official%2C%20must%20bear%20responsibility%20for%20this%20culture.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20found%20that%20some%20staff%20had%20witnessed%20or%20been%20subjected%20to%20behaviours%20at%20work%20which%20they%20had%20felt%20concerned%20about%20but%20at%20times%20felt%20unable%20to%20raise%20properly.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20was%20made%20aware%20of%20multiple%20examples%20of%20a%20lack%20of%20respect%20and%20poor%20treatment%20of%20security%20and%20cleaning%20staff.%20This%20was%20unacceptable.%22%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Student Of The Year 2

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Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal 

1.5 stars

The candidates

Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive

Ali Azeem, business leader

Tony Booth, professor of education

Lord Browne, former BP chief executive

Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist

Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist

Dr Mark Mann, scientist

Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner

Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister

Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster

 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Representing%20UAE%20overseas
%3Cp%3E%0DIf%20Catherine%20Richards%20debuts%20for%20Wales%20in%20the%20Six%20Nations%2C%20she%20will%20be%20the%20latest%20to%20have%20made%20it%20from%20the%20UAE%20to%20the%20top%20tier%20of%20the%20international%20game%20in%20the%20oval%20ball%20codes.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESeren%20Gough-Walters%20(Wales%20rugby%20league)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EBorn%20in%20Dubai%2C%20raised%20in%20Sharjah%2C%20and%20once%20an%20immigration%20officer%20at%20the%20British%20Embassy%20in%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20she%20debuted%20for%20Wales%20in%20rugby%20league%20in%202021.%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESophie%20Shams%20(England%20sevens)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EWith%20an%20Emirati%20father%20and%20English%20mother%2C%20Shams%20excelled%20at%20rugby%20at%20school%20in%20Dubai%2C%20and%20went%20on%20to%20represent%20England%20on%20the%20sevens%20circuit.%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFiona%20Reidy%20(Ireland)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMade%20her%20Test%20rugby%20bow%20for%20Ireland%20against%20England%20in%202015%2C%20having%20played%20for%20four%20years%20in%20the%20capital%20with%20Abu%20Dhabi%20Harlequins%20previously.%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Updated: February 02, 2023, 5:30 PM`