Kremlin has begun the task of dismantling and taking control of Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s sprawling empire, which included a propaganda media wing and internet troll factories infamous for interfering in elections in the United States.
earlier this week that recruitment was continuing, including in local gyms and fighting clubs, even though Russian officials said Wagner would no longer take part in the war in Ukraine, which the Kremlin still refers to as a “special military operation.”By Putin’s own admission, Prigozhin’s catering business was paid at least $1 billion last year through government-awarded contracts to feed tens of thousands of soldiers on the front line in Ukraine.
It’s not clear how many fighters joined the mutiny or have stuck by Prigozhin’s side. Prigozhin claimed that his force counted 25,000 fighters, though the real number is likely lower. According to U.S. estimates, there were around 10,000 contractors — a more loyal and trained part of the group — constituting the Wagner force in Ukraine. The rest were convicts recruited from prison who sustained heavy casualties in fighting for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday said it was up to African countries to decide whether they wanted to continue security contracts with Wagner. According to the Sentry, an investigative organization investigating war crimes, conflict and corruption in Africa, Wagner controls all military operations outside the CAR capital, Bangui, and led “widespread, systematic, and well-planned campaigns of mass killing, torture, and rape” throughout the country.
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