Russia’s Wagner Mercenaries Group In Belarus, Images Show (Worthy News-Focus)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MINSK/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Satellite images and video footage suggest that the founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group and fellow soldiers are at their new base in Belarus after they challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority.
A photo captured from a video appears to show Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin welcoming troops at the Belarus base following their failed mutiny last month. Satellite footage had earlier revealed a suspected convoy arriving at the group’s new camp.
In video footage, Prigozhin hands over to a man he introduces as “the commander and the person who gave us the name Wagner” and who says: “Yes, I’m that very same Wagner.”
It seemed a rare public appearance by Dmitry Utkin, the former Russian army officer thought to be Wagner’s military chief. It is his callsign – “Wagner” – the group is named after.
Claiming to have served 10 years in jail during the final throes of the Soviet Union, reportedly after the violent robbery of a woman he choked unconscious, Prigozhin was permitted by Putin to create Wagner in 2014, despite Russia’s constitution outlawing such groups.
After operations in the Donbas area of Ukraine and Syria, while fighting for national leaders and warlords in Africa in return for lucrative sums and assets, Wagner became a household name during the Ukraine war. Experts say Wagner played a crucial role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine due to the faltering Russian military – and its apparent brutality.
Prigozhin’s recruitment drive in prisons fuelling was mainly deemed responsible for Wagner’s gains in the city of Bakhmut, though at significant human costs. Footage has also circulated of its fighters bludgeoning an alleged deserter to death with a sledgehammer.
DISCREDITING PRIGOZHIN
In seeking to discredit Prigozhin following his shortlived mutiny, Putin tried to push back by claiming ultimate responsibility for the group, as he insisted the fighters’ wages had come out of state coffers.
It was an attempt to distance himself further from Prigozhin, a former hot dog vendor. He
rose to prominence as he garnered the attention and favor of Putin while working as a restaurateur, with both men growing up in St Petersburg.
He benefitted from large state loans while expanding his business under Putin, winning lucrative contracts to provide meals to public schools, the Kremlin, and the Russian military.
Prigozhin also drew the attention of jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation.
The Wagner founder has been described as a billionaire with a massive fortune built on state contracts, although the extent of his wealth is unknown.
One of the best-known images shows him at the Kremlin in 2011, bending down over a seated Putin and offering him a dish while the Russian leader looks back approvingly.
He was sanctioned by Washington, which accused him of playing a role in meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election through his Internet “troll factory” spreading “fake news.”
With his arrival in Belarus, Wagner is getting closer to vital targets of nearby member states of the NATO military alliance, including in Poland and Lithuania. Belarus also agreed to place Russian tactical nuclear weapons, further raising East-West tensions at a time of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
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