The rise of a shadowy Russian mercenary network
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 26 April 2023
⏱️ 29 minutes
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Summary
The Wagner Group is a name that seems to be coming up a lot lately, whether it’s in connection with the war in Ukraine or the fighting in Sudan. Today on “Post Reports,” reporter Greg Miller unpacks the origins of this mercenary network and its growth fueling instability around the world.
The Wagner Group operated in the shadows for years, its network of mercenary forces aiding the Russian government in military operations in places such as Ukraine.
In the time since, the Wagner Group has expanded and morphed well-beyond Russia’s borders, fueling instability and helping autocrats maintain or challenge power through disinformation campaigns and building up their military.
But according to newly leaked U.S. intelligence documents, the Wagner Group is becoming even more “nefarious,” Greg Miller, an international investigative reporter, tells “Post Reports.”
“It's actually trying to destabilize parts of Africa so that then it can again back Russia’s preferred and favored candidates,” as it seeks to further gain wealth and resources of its own, Miller explains.
Read more:
Wagner Group surges in Africa as U.S. influence fades, leak reveals.
Russian mercenaries are closely linked with Sudan’s warring generals.
What is the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary outfit in Ukraine?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So I've been coming across a name more and more often lately, the Wagner Group. |
| 0:10.0 | Not to mention the Wagner Group. |
| 0:12.0 | Throw in a new spotlight on Russia's Wagner Group. |
| 0:14.7 | The Wagner Group. |
| 0:16.0 | And Wagner Group. |
| 0:17.0 | Russia's Wagner Group. |
| 0:18.0 | Yeah, the Wagner Group appears to be signing with himides RSF. |
| 0:22.7 | And to me, that sounds like some kind of random fancy management company or something. |
| 0:27.9 | I know it's not. |
| 0:31.3 | So for starters, Wagner is a Russian paramilitary organization. |
| 0:37.1 | Basically, a mercenary army that has morphed and expanded, but that's what it is at its core. |
| 0:47.5 | Greg Miller is an investigative international reporter for the post based in London. |
| 0:53.0 | It has weapons, it has fighters, it has trainers, it has some intelligence capabilities. |
| 1:00.1 | It's basically there to sort of Russia's interests or help Russia's allies in military |
| 1:06.5 | situations around the world. |
| 1:08.5 | Greg says its presence around the world has been known for years, but he says recently |
| 1:14.0 | leaked intelligence documents are giving us new clues about the ways the Wagner Group |
| 1:19.4 | is growing and evolving. |
| 1:22.0 | It's kind of shifted from an organization that would slip into places where there was |
| 1:26.6 | a security vacuum or some sort of problem and kind of offer solutions on its terms and |
| 1:33.2 | the Kremlin's terms. |
| 1:35.1 | To an entity that based on how it's described in these classified files is more nefarious. |
... |
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