The tour of the rf Foreign Minister s.lavrov to Africa has once again drawn public attention to the russian private military company “Wagner”, which has often been used as one of putin’s favorite instruments of influence in Africa, where russia helps to increase the gold and foreign exchange reserves and avoid Western sanctions.
Putin uses “Wagner” PMC mercenaries wherever the rf has its own interest, but cannot disclose its presence. The main source of funding for “Wagner” PMC is the exploitation of natural resources of the countries where the company is fighting: oil and gas fields in Syria, gold mines in Sudan and Madagascar. In general, “Wagner” PMC mercenaries took an active part in armed conflicts in Syria, Libya, Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali.
CAR is only one of the elements of the russian presence in the region. Through a network of shell companies, the kremlin is able to secretly replenish its own budget. For example, the company Bois Rouge has a permit to cut down 186 thousand hectares of forests in the South-West of the CAR, benefits from import duties, is exempt from corporate tax, property tax and business license. Formally, Bois Rouge positions itself as a Central African company, but it was founded by the russians and is controlled by the notorious private military company “Wagner”.
Wherever “Wagner” group appears, there are increasing reports of war crimes, the UN accuses them of arbitrary arrests, torture and mass executions. For human rights violations, the entire “Wagner” group, as well as ye.pryhozhyn, who is called putin’s “cook” and founder of “Wagner”, and its head d.utkin are now on the EU sanctions list. However, it is very difficult to trace where exactly African timber comes from to Europe and there is no guarantee that the restrictions imposed on the “wagnerites” are sufficient to prevent Bois Rouge from selling its timber to Europe and thus continue to finance military aggression against Ukraine.
Mercenaries from the PMC “Wagner”, now called “League”, are also involved in russia’s war against Ukraine. About 8 thousand mercenaries were deployed in April to Ukraine. They participated in offensives in Bucha, Popasna and Lysychansk, where about 3 thousand “wagnerites” were killed and wounded. Recently, against the background of the replacement of several high-ranking russian military commanders, the dissatisfaction with each other between the russian military and the “wagnerites” has significantly aggravated, which has negatively affected their morale. According to Western intelligence, FSB officers often perform tasks and conduct special operations under the guise of “Wagner” units. Recently, the PMC has been notable for recruiting russian prisoners for the war with Ukraine in the colonies of St. Petersburg, Mordovia, Adygea, Komi, Krasnodar Krai, Leningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Lipetsk and Voronezh regions.
Thus, PMC “Wagner” has become not only a source of covert killers and mercenaries but also a tool of the kremlin authorities allowing russia to earn money and replenish its gold and foreign exchange reserves.
Due to the heavy losses in Ukraine, russia, within the framework of the so-called covert mobilization, is forced to involve mercenaries of private military companies that previously operated in Africa, Libya, Syria and Donbas, as well as to create so-called patriotic national battalions.
However, heavy losses reduce the value of this strategy as a support for regular russian forces in Ukraine. In order to maintain the pace of the offensive that the rf is currently trying to preserve, it will eventually have to declare a general mobilization.
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