Inside The Wagner Group – Putin's secret army waging bloody war on NATO's borders
dailystar.co.ukVladimir Putin’s forces crossed Ukraine’s border on February 24, operatives from the shadowy Wagner Group had penetrated Ukraine ’s defences laying the groundwork for the Russian assault.
The Wagner Group is modelled on private armies like American military contractors Blackwater, or South Africa-based Executive Outcomes.
But while those companies are willing to sell their services to the highest bidder, The Wagner Group works for just one client – Vladimir Putin.On Putin's orders the paramilitary organisation has committed appalling atrocities all over the world.In just one conflict – the civil war in the Central African Republic [CAR]– Russian-backed “instructors” were implicated in 103 alleged war crimes including torture, murder and rape.In February 2021, a 20-year-old woman from CAR claimed several Russian mercenaries had abducted and raped her. “They tortured me like an animal,” she said.In another incident men believed to have been from the Wagner Group fired indiscriminately into a crowd of civilians taking shelter in a mosque: “They weren’t trying to figure out who was a rebel and who was a civilian,” said one eyewitness. “They wanted to kill people,”While some Wagner Group operatives are ex-military, many others are former convict with little or no military training or experience.
But they’re drawn by the money. The Times reports that Wagner Group mercenaries’ combat pay in Syria was roughly six times the average wage in Russia.
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