Oddbean new post about login | logout ' #Russia maintains significant military presence in #Syria and its air power and political support over the past decade have been essential in aiding President Bashar Al #Assad and his govt and shifting the tide of the conflict. Over the years, #Wagner has been involved in combat missions and security for #oil installations in Syria.' 'there have been reports that #Syrian officials have already told Wagner to integrate with the Russian army or leave by October' https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb
A #Syrian website 'reported murky investments in the Syrian #oil and #gas sector, including stakes in Mercury and Velada. These are companies that were granted contracts for oil exploration in #Syria , approved by the Syrian parliament. And according to #Russian media outlets, these companies were owned by #Prigozhin' A few days ago Russian media reported that Velada has changed hands. According to Vyorstka, it is now owned by a 27 yo ex-policeman in St Petersburg' https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb
Another intriguing figure in #Moscow’s delegation to the Middle East is 'General Andrey #Averyanov - he is one of #Russia's top spies and he has been linked in reporting to many of the #assassination attempts, subterfuge, abroad that has been carried out by Russian military intelligence. In 2018 there was an assassination attempt on sergey #skripal , former russian spy, on British soil. And this general was linked to the elite #GRU group that carried out the operations https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb
When we talk about #Wagner in #Africa - the bridgehead for #Moscow was the Central #African Republic. 'in the #CAR there are about four leaders who were looking after #Russia 's interest - the defence contracts plus #intelligence and #security for president #Touadera The head of the Russia House who was this cultural node, but also overseen economic interests. There were the media operations too (Cont.) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb
'for the #Kremlin to take this over means they have to consolidate their leadership and make sure that the #mercenaries are able to pledge allegiance to them. in #Mali's case for instance they haven't acknowledged that they are working with the #wagnergroup as far as they're concerned, it's the #Russian government, so they might be more open towards moving in #Russia 's direction in determining the leadership of the group on a local level.' https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb #TheGlobalJigsaw
'in the #CAR or are there would be a bigger stake and it felt as if the presidency was quite comfortable with the #mercenaries who are already present because they have already built up relationship with them. In some ways symbiotic, but also parasitic. These are people who have already known the terrain, what it is that these leaders want. its lucrative on both sides. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb #Wagner #prighozin #TheGlobalJigsaw
'But ultimately it is also about a bigger partnership with #Russia because in as much as the #Wagner group is operating at the behest of the #Russian government, it's different from having an actual government to government deal.' 'the groups that are sort of affiliated with the #Prigozhin #propaganda machinery - Yerewolo, the collective of the defence of the military in #Mali , there is also Galaxea National in the #CAR (cont.) #TheGlobalJigsaw https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb
'their messages are also spreading out to the wider region, particularly Francophone #African countries. But any people who feel a sentiment of Panafricanism is what brings them together. But this is a radical form of PanAfricanism - they had been trumpeting support for the #Wagner group, for the #Kremlin 's geopolitical interests in the region and even drumming up support for #Russia throughout the #Ukraine conflict https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb #TheGlobalJigsaw
' #Wagner is no longer fighting in #Ukraine as a separate unit according to the Ukraine's military intelligence… And Wagner was actually one of the most efficient army units in #Russia. Wagner was better equipped than some of the regular Russian army units - it had his own tanks, air defence, aircraft…You can actually tell a lot about Wagner from what happened in #Bakhmut Wagner was ready to sacrifice as many lives as possible for its military goal… https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb #TheGlobalJigsaw
'They would send small infantry groups to try to attack #Ukrainian positions. And if these groups were killed, they would send another group and then another. So eventually, they succeeded in capturing #Bakhmut , but this came at a very big price. According to some reports, #Wagner lost half of its personnel - they started with 50,000 and ended up with half of that. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3t5hlb #TheGlobalJigsaw
' #Wagner is also known for its cruelty towards #Ukrainian s… This included women, children, elderly people, but of course, this is not the only #Russian unit to have killed civilians in #Ukraine .
As #Wagner built a reputation for cruelty abroad, its popularity skyrocketed back home, in #Russia 'At that time, wagner’s presence exploded online. Many fan groups appeared on social media, online marketplaces started selling knock off memmorabilia, like patches, flags, T shirts, etc. wagner recruitment ads for the first time appeared on #Russian streets. So outside of TV and maybe state newspapers, wagners presence grew exponentially' #TheGlobalJigsaw https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb
' #Poland , #Latvia and #Lithuania all share a border with #Belarus and they all took measures to increase border security. After reports emerged that #Wagner was being redeployed to Belarus, Lithuania closed two border checkpoints. Latvia and Poland sent additional forces to protect the border - Poland sent around 10,000 additional troops' https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb #TheGlobalJigsaw
'Then at the end of July, the #Polish PM announced that #Wagner was sending forces to the so called Suwalki gap, which is the Polish border with #Lithuania... #Poland remains a target for all kinds of #Russian intelligent activities. For example in August, there were around several hundred #Wagner recruitment posters that appeared in #Warsaw and #Krakow.' https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb #TheGlobalJigsaw
'So as long as Western weapons keep making their way to #Ukraine through #Poland, there will still be these kinds of attempts at destabilisation in Poland, be that through #Wagner or through disinformation or any other kinds of activities.' 'Wagner was one of hundreds of entities that #prigozhin had his hands on, ranging from private military companies to #propaganda to catering, which is where he made a lot of his money, to construction.' https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb #TheGlobalJigsaw
'you can look at the assets that really mean something to #Russia , there's two main areas. Its #propaganda and media operations and the guns for hire… There will be a real fight within the #Russian state to gain control of these assets… following the mutiny. We saw that his media holding patriot and the 11 websites under that brand name ceased operating so essentially access was blocked. By the Russian media regulator' https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5hlb #TheGlobalJigsaw