Stroytransgaz, or STG, the company headed by Kremlin-insider Timchenko, is one of the largest such investors, and in February it secured a $22 million production sharing agreement with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, according to The Syria Report, an online journal that tracks economic developments in the country. But, as in many other developing countries, Syrias nationalized energy sector is highly reliant on external backing from foreign firms for capital-intensive upstream investment in exploration and development. The reports revelations have chilling implications, as Russian mercenaries motivated by both money and far-right ideology are increasingly operating unchecked in some of the worlds most fragile countries. These soldiers are likely to be used as cannon fodder to try to limit Russian military losses, he has said. The military dependence of the CAR administration on Wagner has translated into a very influential political role for the mercenary organization," the report said. Wagner forces have appeared in Ukraine, presumably to fight alongside Russian troops in Mr. Putins war. Wagner's presence in CAR soon led to the departure of a French-led international peacekeeping force in the country, as was the case even more abruptly last year in Mali. Theres a trend or pattern around what happens when Wagner is involved in an armed conflict, Dr. MacLeod said. In April, the French army released imagery from drone cameras that showed Wagner Group soldiers laying out dead bodies in the sand near a French army base in Mali after the French withdrew. One person sanctioned by the EU was described as "the security advisor" to PresidentFaustin Archange-Touadera. A video surfaced on social media showing 2 #Wagner mercenaries torturing, beheading & lynching-on-fire a #Syria -n army defector in 2017, 'just for fun.' At one point in the video, a second severed head can be seen lying on the ground. Mourning has consumed Xinjiang scholars for a region they can no longer reach. American military officials repeatedly warned about the growing mass of troops. For the next three hours, American officials said, scores of strikes pummeled enemy troops, tanks and other vehicles. Bouta is believed to have been killed in the spring of 2017, and a video of his death first emerged online in June 2017. Mercenaries are illegal under Russian law. He has been referred to as Putins chef because of his catering business, which has staged elaborate state banquets for Mr. Putin. EvroPolis really, perhaps more than any other single entirety in the Prigozhin-associated network, captures the full suite of services that the Prigozhin networks have access to, said Margolin. If Putin had hoped to weaken NATO, the very opposite has happened, with Finland and Sweden on the cusp of joining the transatlantic military alliance. The others retreated under merciless airstrikes from the United States, returning later to retrieve their battlefield dead. Download the FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere. In another part of the video that originally surfaced in 2017, the four men laugh to a soundtrack of Russian rock music as they use a sledgehammer to crush the hand of a man shown pinned to the ground wearing bloodied civilian clothes in what appears to be an industrial zone. The 20-mile drive was made all the more difficult since the trucks did not turn on their headlights, relying solely on thermal-imaging cameras to navigate. The entity first emerged in 2014, during Russias annexation of Crimea. But beyond the goals of one leader in Moscow, it is also clear that Ukraine has suffered horrors of a historic nature. The air was filled with dust and shrapnel. Family members of a former Russian prison inmate, who defected to Ukraine after being recruited by the Kremlin-linked private military group Wagner, have expressed horror over his apparent execution after a gruesome video emerged on Friday that showed him being repeatedly struck with a sledgehammer. In an interview with the Russian human rights group Gulagu.net late on Sunday, Ilya Nuzhin said his family learned of their fathers death through Telegram, which left them horrified. A half-hour later, the Russian mercenaries and Syrian forces struck. The Wagner Group: Russia's Blackwater TRT World 2.02M subscribers Subscribe 3.9K 321K views 2 years ago From Ukraine to Syria to the Central African Aircraft across the region were placed on alert, military officials said. Anyone can read what you share. Syrias government controls oil, gas, and mineral production and export, and Syrias General Petroleum Company sets strategy for exploration and development and supervises national subsidiaries, including the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC) and Syrian Gas Company (SGC). Within days of the second tranche of videos being posted by open source investigators on Twitter, reporters with al-Jessr Press, a Paris-based media outlet that reports on Syria, published the very first account of Boutas killing. This week marks exactly one year since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine. which was captured on video at the Weekly update on whats driving U.S. national security policy. But later they appear to let their guard down, as one says: Hide your faces well, whatever, this video wont go up anywhere anyway.. Evening roundup with our editors favorite stories of the day. Its not clear how the videos ended up online or why the perpetrators chose to document the killing. And neither the United States government understands how terrifying it is nor do its European allies.. The most pointed criticisms of the war are coming from those charged with fighting it. A handful of Marines ran ammunition to machine guns and Javelin missile launchers scattered along the berms and wedged among the trucks. Bracing for an attack, the Green Berets prepared to launch the reaction force. By one estimate from Harvard University, more than 130,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or severely wounded, in addition to the deaths of more than 7,000 Ukrainian civilians. on Tuesday explores the circumstances of Boutas death using company records and social media analysis. If Putin had hoped to weaken NATO, the very opposite has happened, with Finland and Sweden on the cusp of joining the transatlantic military alliance. International Federation for Human Rights. An analysis of Russian social media groups for followers of the Wagner Group as well as the friend networks of individuals who shared details of Boutas murder online revealed a burgeoning online movement of Russian ultranationalists with an abiding interest in mercenary culture who claimed to have served in Russian military units, according to the research by Frontline Forensics, which was published by New America. They provide the Pentagons first public on-the-ground accounting of one of the single bloodiest battles the American military has faced in Syria since deploying to fight the Islamic State. Close to Russian government but nominally independent, private military contractors give the Kremlin a degree of plausible deniability and have complicated efforts by Western policymakers to formulate a response. They cant say that this is just a political issue or propaganda because we are bringing this case in Russian courts, under Russian law. Click + to receive email alerts for new stories written by A BBC Russian investigation in 2018 highlighted the deaths of Russian mercenaries fighting in Syria. In the past month, the number of Wagner troops in the country has more than tripled to over 1,000. Last month, the FBI placed Prigozhin on its Most Wanted list in connection with his alleged role in interfering in American elections in 2016 and 2018, offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to his arrest The U.S. government has also sanctioned Prigozhin for his alleged ties to Russian mercenaries affiliated with the Wagner Group. Ilya Novikov, one of the Russian attorneys who filed the ground-breaking legal complaint, said in a written statement that he and his co-counsel Petr Zaikin, decided to initiate the case after a demand for Russias Investigative Committee, the countrys top prosecutorial body, apparently fell flat. Were going to Moscow, to their territory, to their courts, and to their jurisdiction, Darwish said. In interviews, United States military officials said they had watched with dread hundreds of approaching rival troops, vehicles and artillery pieces in the week leading up to the attack. It sheds new light on the networks operations and reveals how the killing became a rallying point for Russian ultranationalists online. Then as now, the Kremlin denied any ties to Vagner, but the incident put major pressure on Russia to explain the presence of private mercenaries. Rather than being a single organization, Wagner is an opaque network of titular companies and private military contractors that simultaneously further the Kremlins interests abroad while lining the pockets of those involved by gaining access to lucrative energy and natural resources mining contracts in the countries in which they operate. It operates in a situation of opacity, theres a real lack of transparency and thats the whole point, said Sorcha MacLeod, chair of the United Nations Working Group on the use of mercenaries, which has scrutinized the group. Osechkin said all signs pointed to Wagners involvement in the killing and said he planned to send a request to Russias authorities to launch a criminal case. Jessica Chen Weiss, formerly a senior advisor for policy planning at the State Department under the Biden administration, makes the case that the United States is becoming consumed by competition with China, a strategy that could lead to dangerous conflict. But the Russian government has preferred to keep Wagners actions obscured, even hiding preparations for funerals when members of the private military company have been killed abroad. Mercenaries from the Wagner Group in Bangui, Central African Republic, in 2019. relying on tens of thousands of inexperienced conscripts. For its part, Washington has made a series of policy choices over the last few years that can be summed Show moreup as tough on Beijing, even seeking to contain the rise of the worlds second-biggest economy. The Wagner Group is a mercenary firm that has been heavily involved in the fighting in Ukraine. The reaction team sped toward the fight. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. Neither Timchenko nor Prigozhin are expressly named in connection with Boutas killing. Novikov said that Novaya Gazeta asked the Investigative Committee to open an inquiry into the murder, but the committee ignored the request. Who Is Vagner? The Kremlin-backed Wagner Group will be exposed to legal proceedings for the first time after video emerged of man in Syria being beaten with a sledgehammer and then beheaded. Russian who filmed prisoner being tortured to death worked for firm with links to Kremlin. So unused to being challenged, the United States has become so filled with anxiety over China that sober responses are becoming nearly impossible. Online messages sent to him and his wife by the Guardian were not immediately returned on Thursday. Prigozhin is also believed to have created and funded the Internet Research Agency, an online "troll farm" that U.S. authorities have charged with waging a propaganda-and-influence campaign in a bid to sway the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Essential analysis of the stories shaping geopolitics on the continent. You may opt out at any time. On March 27, 2017, Bouta traveled across the border from Lebanon into Syria at the Beirut-Damascus crossing with a group of young men from his village. This week, Moscow denied reports of Wagner already being operative in Burkina Faso another West African country that recently underwent a coup, fell out with former colonial power France, and is showing no sign of a return to democratic rule. American intelligence officials say that the Wagner Group, known by the nickname of the retired Russian officer who leads it, is in Syria to seize oil and gas fields and protect them on behalf of the Assad government. In a legal criminal complaint announced Monday on behalf of the victim, Muhammad Hamdi Bouta Taha al-Abdullah, attorneys representing the victims brother allege that six Russian citizens who worked on a contract to secure a Russian-Syrian operated gas plant were behind the 2017 killing. Jesr said the killing took place near the al-Shaer oil field in the Syrian province of Homs, which at the time of the incident, would have been under the control of the Russian-backed government of Assad. Unconfirmed reports said Nuzhin had been part of a recent Russian-Ukrainian prisoner exchange, news that has led to concerns among human rights groups. What will another year of war look like? But researchers from groups such as Bellingcat and the Conflict Intelligence Team, as well as Russian journalists most notably from, An analysis of Russian social media groups for followers of the Wagner Group as well as the friend networks of individuals who shared details of Boutas murder online revealed a burgeoning online movement of Russian ultranationalists with an abiding interest in mercenary culture who claimed to have served in Russian military units,. Journalists, open-source researchers, and other observers have tracked Russian military companies to operations in the Central African Republic, Mozambique, and Libya. But as well as disputing Wagner's presence, Russia said it would "actively participate in collective efforts to stabilize the situation" and "develop a multifaceted cooperation with Burkina Faso," including potentially training the country's military. This style of hybrid warfare has become a cornerstone of Russias efforts to project its interests abroad. Their structure allows them to have plausible deniability and to create distance between the Russian state and the group, she said. According to Jesr, the man was captured by Russian forces after a desertion attempt from the Syrian Army. Bouta is believed to have been killed in the spring of 2017, and a video of his death first emerged online in June 2017. It was dark, according to the documents, and the roads were littered with felled power lines and shell craters. What will another year of war look like? When the civil war began, he traveled to Lebanon to find construction work after the situation in Syria deteriorated and large parts of Deir Ezzor came under ISIS control, according to an account of Boutas final days given to lawyers by his family. I Was Moscows Chief Rabbi. The newspaper has not released the mans full last name in order to protect his family from potential reprisals. Russian Paramilitaries Accused of Torture and Beheading in Landmark Legal Case Against Wagner Group IN THE DOCK The Kremlin-backed Wagner Group will be Former President Obasanjo warns: Danger looming ahead., Report: The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any connections to Russian private military security contractors operating in Syria. Mazen Darwish, one of several human rights activists pressing for justice in Boutas case and director general of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, said that Russian authorities have about 40 days to respond to the initial court filing. A recent investigative report on the Wagner Group's activities in Africa surmised that it "has rapidly become the most influential form of Russian engagement in Africa today," politically, economically and militarily. A member of the group can be overheard discussing whether they should cover their faces before one says theres no point, as the video is not going to go anywhere., Amy Mackinnon is a national security and intelligence reporter at Foreign Policy. In Syria, A Mutilated Corpse, Video Evidence, And New Scrutiny For Russian Mercenaries. The Guardian checked the results independently using the facial recognition software FindClone and found the same results. Prigozhin, who had been charged by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller in early 2018, was slapped with new U.S. Treasury Department sanctions on September 30, in an announcement that also included photographs of three jets and a 122-foot yacht that purportedly belongs to Prigozhin or his companies. South Africa and Russia deepen military ties, Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy calls for ICC Russia probe, More than mercenaries: Russia's Wagner Group in Africa, Russian troops step up fight to cut off Bakhmut supply lines, French court dismisses case against TotalEnergies, Pakistan: The school that's free for Afghan refugee children, New hurdles for sea rescuers in the Mediterranean, Tunisia: Presidential scapegoating stokes fear and support, Canada Soccer president resigns amid equal pay dispute, committed in the Central African Republic, Mali, Sudan, the most influential form of Russian engagement in Africa today, has also prompted the country to step up its diplomatic drive in Africa, Mali's ruling junta last year forced French troops out of the country soon after committing a coup and welcomed in Wagner forces, At a vote at the UN General Assembly this week. Questioned about the clip and Novaya Gazeta's report, the Kremlin denied any knowledge of the men depicted. Is the Biden administrations China policy too hawkish? As the Green Berets and Marines neared the Conoco plant around 11:30 p.m., they were forced to stop. Despite the Kremlins denial of any ties to Wagner, Mr. Utkin has been photographed next to Mr. Putin. Claiming to have uncovered one of the mercenaries, it wants Moscow to step in. Commandos Unfolded in Syria, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/world/middleeast/american-commandos-russian-mercenaries-syria.html. One of the individuals sanctioned on Saturday came under an EU sanctions regime for Mali specifically. It was quickly seized upon by open source investigators, who first identified the location of the video as the Shaer gas station near Homs and then pored over the video for clues to the mens identities. The details of the Feb. 7 firefight were gleaned from interviews and documents newly obtained by The New York Times. Two years after the United States clashed with some sort of Wagner Group contingent in Deir Ezzor, the United States government still doesnt know anything about the organizational structure of these military contingents, Rondeaux said. American warplanes arrived in waves, including Reaper drones, F-22 stealth fighter jets, F-15E Strike Fighters, B-52 bombers, AC-130 gunships and AH-64 Apache helicopters. Late last November, videos of a gruesome killing went viral on Russian social networks. He has reported for The New York Times in Moscowand has written for The Guardian, Politico, The New Republic, and Foreign Policy. Known colloquially as the Wagner Group, the contingent has been linked to a network of Russian firms that U.S. and European authorities say are financed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a key player in Putins inner circle known as Putins chef. Although the Wagner Group has been implicated in several violations of international law, including skirting a UN arms embargo in Libya, the Moscow legal filing on Boutas case marks the first time that any official complaint has been brought in court against the private security contingent in connection with an alleged war crime. This has absolutely no relation to Russian soldiers, no matter what is being published about it, said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Vladimir Putin. It included some Syrian government soldiers and militias, but American military and intelligence officials have said a majority were private Russian paramilitary mercenaries and most likely a part of the Wagner Group, a company often used by the Kremlin to carry out objectives that officials do not want to be connected to the Russian government. The incident will serve to further blacken the reputation of Wagner, which was founded by a businessman close to Vladimir Putin. 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