Explainer - What is Russia’s Wagner Group?

• The greatest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his more than two decades in power fizzled out after the rebellious mercenary commander Yevgeny Prigozhin, who ordered his troops to march on Moscow, abruptly reached a deal with the Kremlin to go into exile and sounded the retreat.

• The brief revolt exposed vulnerabilities among Russian government forces, with Wagner Group soldiers able to move unimpeded into the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and advance hundreds of kilometres toward Moscow. 

• Ending their short-lived mutiny, Wagner fighters halted their rapid advance on Moscow, withdrew from the southern Russian city of Rostov and headed back to their bases under a deal that guaranteed their safety.

• A former Putin ally and ex-convict whose forces have fought the bloodiest battles of the 16-month war in Ukraine, Prigozhin said his decision to advance on Moscow was intended to remove corrupt and incompetent Russian commanders he blames for botching the war.

What is Wagner Group?

• PMC Wagner (Wagner Group) is a Russian private military company led by Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a target of multiple US sanctions.

• Wagner Group has been involved in Kremlin-backed combat operations around the world in support of Putin’s war on Ukraine. 

• Prigozhin is one of the most visible faces of the war, having recruited thousands of Russian prisoners to fight for Wagner.

• Prigozhin, 62, has for decades been known as “Putin’s chef” due to his company’s Kremlin catering contracts.

• After serving a long prison sentence in the 1980s, Prigozhin started out selling hotdogs in his hometown. He soon began to build up a stake in a chain of supermarkets, and eventually opened his own restaurant and catering company. His restaurant gained a reputation for its fine food and was soon hosting city dignitaries including then deputy mayor Vladimir Putin.

• From there, Prigozhin’s catering firm Concord began to win government supply contracts, taking its operations to a much bigger level. 

• Prigozhin founded the private military group in 2014, the year Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. 

• The Wagner Group has fought in Libya, Syria, the Central African Republic and Mali, among other countries.

• The group also provided support to Russia-backed separatists who seized a chunk of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region in 2014.

• Last month the group seized the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after some of the war’s most brutal fighting. 

• The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Prigozhin for his role in Wagner. They also accuse him of funding a troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency that Washington says tried to influence US elections.

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