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The Russian Wagner Group (the private military company “Wagner”) was formed in 2014. Despite Russian law prohibiting the establishment of private armies, the group operated together with the government and with its approval. Its goal was to advance Russia’s political interests via military means, at the behest of the government and without public approval. The group also operated for the economic benefit of its director, Yevgeny Prigozhin, a business figure from the Russian underground.

Over the years, the Wagner Group conducted operations in several geographic locations, including Africa and the Middle East. In Syria, for example, the organization fought with the Russian military and the forces of the Assad regime, beginning in 2015.

The group’s prominent involvement in the Russia-Ukraine War included the occupation of the city of Bakhmut, which lasted approximately ten months. According to testimony from senior members of the group, approximately 78,000 mercenary soldiers participated in the fighting in Ukraine; of them, approximately 49,000 were prisoners recruited directly to the front lines of the conflict from prisons in Russia. During the fighting, severe friction emerged between Prigozhin and the Russian military establishment, which led to the outbreak of an armed rebellion by the Wagner Group against the top military echelon on June 23, 2023. During a twenty-four-hour period, approximately 4,000 mercenary soldiers advanced hundreds of kilometers from southern Russia toward Moscow, nearly without interruption. The rebellion ended after intense negotiations: the majority of the rebels were transferred to neighboring Belarus with the agreement of its President, and the rebels’ heavy weapons were transferred to the Russian army. The activities of the group in Africa and other countries did not stop; however, the Russian political-military establishment began the process of assuming control of the group. Approximately two months after these events, Prigozhin and his close associates were assassinated when their plane exploded above Russian skies.