Displaying items by tag: Wagner group

A court has heard that in March 2024 arsonists acting on behalf of the Russian Wagner Group caused £1 million in damage by setting fire to a warehouse in Leyton, east London,which supplied StarLink satellite equipment to Ukraine. The attack, livestreamed via FaceTime, was orchestrated by Dylan Earl, 20, and Jake Reeves, 23, who have admitted to aggravated arson and National Security Act offences. Four other men are currently on trial, accused of carrying out the attack after being recruited for the plot. Prosecutors described the crime as deliberate and calculated, driven by foreign influence, financial motives, and ideological support for Russia. The warehouse, involved in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, was targeted specifically for its logistical connection to the war effort. Prosecutors also revealed that Earl and Reeves plotted further attacks in Mayfair, including arson and a kidnapping attempt, to serve Wagner Group interests. The court proceedings continue, with some defendants denying the charges.

Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is presumed dead, having been named as one of ten passengers in a private jet that crashed north of Moscow. A key ally of Vladimir Putin, his private military company has played a key role in Ukraine following Moscow's invasion in February 2022. But his relationship with Putin soured after he ordered his troops to march on Moscow in a day-long rebellion against Russia's military leaders in June. The details of the crash are not clear, but claims that it was shot down have not been substantiated. The following day Putin said he had sent condolences to Prigozhin’s family.  His death will leave Putin stronger in the short term, removing a powerful figure who had played an important part in the war but had also been openly critical of Russia’s military leaders.

Russian social media and private messaging groups are recruiting a brigade of mercenaries to fight in Ukraine alongside the army. The BBC interviewed a serving mercenary and former fighter linked to Russia's leading mercenary organisation who gave details of the recruitment campaign. He said many veterans of the secretive Wagner organisation were contacted on a private Telegram group a few weeks before the start of the war and invited to ‘picnic in Ukraine’, with references to tasting ‘Salo’, a pork fat traditionally eaten in Ukraine. The message appealed to ‘those with criminal records, debts, banned from mercenary groups or without an external passport’ to apply; plus ‘those from the Russian-occupied areas of Luhansk and Donetsk republics and Crimea are cordially invited’. The Wagner group, a most secretive Russian organisation, officially does not exist. Serving as a mercenary is against Russian and international law. Recruits are placed in units under officers from the GRU (Russian military intelligence unit).