Sudan has arguably been Wagner’s most lucrative and destabilizing operation. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are heavily armed and backed by the organization in return for using the nation’s rich goldmines to fund the PMC’s operations. Sudanese civilians have been given firsthand accounts of modern slavery by Wagner, who threatens to execute those forced to work in RSF gold mines with executions if they fail to meet their quota.
Using Violence like ISIS to Attract Recruits
What makes Wagner dangerous is their lust for violence, which they openly upload on their Grey Zone telegram channel to gather recruits. Already a group with neo-Nazi ties, the PMC looks to attract far-right Westerners and Russians with little morality or qualms regarding brutality.
The patient and notorious sledgehammer is Wagner’s top choice for executions. In 2017, four mercenaries in Syria savagely tortured and killed a Syrian army deserter with the weapon. The organization has also executed its deserters with sledgehammers, as seen throughout the war in Ukraine.
Convicts are critical for Wagner’s battlefield success. Unfortunately, the mercenaries see them as cannon fodder due to the ultimatum of rotting in a Russian prison or fighting for pardons in Ukraine. Indeed, this has become what has become of tens of thousands of convicts used by Wagner in human wave assaults in Soledar and Bakhmut to attempt to overwhelm Ukrainian positions and scope out artillery fire.
In 2023, several mercenaries gave testimonies of direct orders to execute Ukrainian civilians in Bakhmut, regardless if they were combatants, women, or children. Yevgeny Prigozhin would state in late April that the mercenaries were no longer taking in any POWs and would discard them in their way.
The Case for Wagner to be Labeled as a Global Terrorist Organization
The Wagner Group has morphed beyond some of the most controversial PMCs, such as Blackwater, and has become a global force of devastation everywhere deployed. Wagner has amassed its own Air Force and works with Russian intelligence agencies, both known for their conflicts with their military.
Wagner continuously arms the RSF in Sudan, the paramilitary responsible for the civil war they have started as the mercenaries look to use the African country as a permanent base of operations and funding if their ventures fail in Ukraine. The group has also attacked US forces, particularly in Syria.
During the Battle of Khasham in 2018, several hundred Wagner and Syrian troops attempted to overrun a US Special Operations Forces base, which resulted in hundreds of casualties for the PMC and their Syrian allies. Yevgeny Prigozhin is one of the most ambitious hardliners in Putin’s inner circle and will look to advance if his regime falls.
Preemptions must be made to contain Wagner and its influence as the PMCs look to further their extreme violence to attract more followers and influence. Like ISIS, the group will ultimately become a significant global security problem unless its external operations are kept in check.
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