When Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky earlier said that several assassination attempts targeting him. The Ukrainian media said that there were three attempts to allegedly assassinate Zelensky and pointed the finger at mercenary groups Wagner and the Chechen special forces.
It is Wagner’s role that has caused concern as the Russian so-called ‘military operation’ continues in Ukraine. Wagner is a private military company whose roots are in Ukraine. Formed in 2014, in the so-called ‘Republic Of Luhansk’, the group was also active in Syria, Mali, Central African Republic and Libya.
The question regarding the owners of Wagner Group continues but according to reports it is owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch who is subject to a series of sanctions, because of his alleged role in US claims of interference in its elections in 2016 through the Internet Research Agency. It was formed by Dmitry Utkin in 2014 and both these men are close to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
But Wagner was in the news not for its role in Ukraine but for its role in premature withdrawal of France’s war against the Islamist Jihadists in Africa’s Sahel region and in Mali. French president Emmanuel Macron in February condemned the group and said that it has predatory intentions.
“Wagner is arriving in Mali with predatory intentions, but why? Because the junta which is in power after two coups d’etats considers them to be the best partners they can find to protect their power, not to fight against terrorism,” Macron was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.
Allegations of mass summary executions, arbitrary detention, torture during interrogation and the forced displacement of the civilian population surfaced against Wagner in Central African Republic where it added to the ongoing civil war between 2020-2021. A report by online magazine unHerd also claimed that it beheaded a Syrian army deserter. Also Wagner’s finances are not Russia’s problem.
The private military contractor’s finances will not bother Putin because in Syria it pledged to protect its oil fields in exchange for a 25% share in oil and gas production from the fields, according to a report by the US Treasury accessed by news agency BBC.
Private military companies (PMCs) have been used by nations, even the US during Gulf Wars, to sometimes escape accountability as well as hide the real toll suffered by armies of war waging nations during a conflict. Since there are legal grey areas surrounding PMCs, outlaws and mercenaries holding them accountable has been a task for humanitarian agencies.
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