Yevgeny Prigozhin has long been the protagonist of news from abroad. Oligarch converted to military leader, after months fighting in Ukraine, in June 2023 he launched a challenge to Moscow stating that he wanted to overthrow the Russian military leadership. After the attempted coup, he went to Belarus and on August 23 the plane he was traveling in crashed between Moscow and St. Petersburg. But what happened to the Wagner military company? Russian authorities are reorganizing the paramilitary group’s former mercenaries following the death of its founder seven months ago.
Anonymous sources told the US newspaper “Politico” that the Kremlin has divided the former Wagner mercenaries into at least four different groups, to ensure greater control by the Moscow authorities over the paramilitary groups. The latter, according to anonymous officials spoken to by the newspaper, in some cases have already been deployed for special missions in Ukraine and Africa. “They have already forced the Biden administration to withdraw its forces from Niger and Chad, and are already challenging Washington’s policies in countries such as the Central African Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso and Libya,” the article reads. .
A first paramilitary group, active mainly in Ukraine, is aligned with the Russian National Guard, while two others operate under the control of Moscow’s intelligence and Defense Ministry. The fourth group, known as Africa Corps, is “still working to consolidate its control in several African capitals.” The newspaper wrote that “hundreds” of Russian mercenaries arrived in Niger this month to “help train the country’s armed forces and start a partnership with the military junta.” Their arrival dates back to a few days before the announcement of the withdrawal of US forces from the country.
