Inside Prigozhin’s Wagner, Russia’s Secret Warfare Company | WSJ Documentary

In September of 2022, a videobegan circulating online of a man named YevgenyPrigozhin at a prison in Russia speaking to inmates and offering them the chance to fight in Ukraine. Yevgeny Prigozhin was an acquaintance of Vladimir Putin's fromSt. Petersburg in the 1990s. He's close to Vladimir Putin. He actually got his start focusing more on cateringbusinesses and restaurants,.

Earning himself the nickname Putin's chef. In the beginning, hestayed in the shadows. He rarely appeared. He was named by some Western officials as being in charge of Wagner Group, but the Kremlin kept it very hush hush. They didn't want it to be known that this group really existed, they denied knowing anything about it.

Wagner is nothing like whatAmericans might understand. It's a private military company. Wagner are mercenaries for hire. They massacre and rape civilians, they exploit, loot naturalresources, and they carry it off, much of this back to the Kremlin. The significance of this video is it immediately tiesPrigozhin to the Wagner Group. He'd always denied any involvement.

But here you have him on camera describing Wagner as his group and describing what they're doing. It was a way of plantingthe flag and saying, “I'm in charge here. I've got permission todo whatever I'd like.” That is in fact the function of the coming out story, to convince us that that is the only story.

That there is to know. This is a business storyat the end of the day. This is a story about the exchange of billions and billions of dollars for large scale weapon platforms, for train and equip missions,for oil and gas exploitation. What we're really seeing here is a very strange organizationthat doesn't look at all like your classicprivate military company.

In fact, it's probably better to call it a state-backed paramilitary cartel. Are you a Russian soldier? The shadowy pro-Russian forces here violently took over government facilities. The Russian mercenaries were from the- Wagner Group. The Wagner Group.The Wagner Group, a shadowy security firmlinked to Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The tentacles of Wagnerspread across Africa, Syria, and Ukraine. They relish in their brutality. Nothing could be more appropriate than designating it as aforeign terrorist organization. Could someone like Prigozhin ever actually threatenVladimir Putin's hold on power? It's absolutely unclear how this will end. In the 10 years since its founding,.

The Wagner Group has evolved from a small guns for higher operation into a sprawling network of businesses that has been active on four continents. This is setting up a broadernetwork of infrastructure where Wagner couldpotentially surge presence in response to a givenopportunity or threat and also it creates the opportunity to sort of lily pad their influence.

From one country to another. Wagner currently has approximately 50,000 personnel deployed to Ukraine, including 10,000 contractorsand 40,000 convicts. President Putin wants Russiato be a great power again. He wants it to havecontrol throughout not only Europe and Asia, but also in Africa and other parts of the world. He's been able to send in hismercenaries through Wagner.

To do the dirty work. The Wall Street Journal examined shipping records,government databases, sanctions documents and corporate records to identify 64 companieslinked to Wagner's founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin. We found more than half ofthose are being used by Wagner as a complex network of front companies to hide the flow of money and materials.

That ultimately connect to the Kremlin. Neither the Kremlin nor Prigozhin responded to requests forcomment about our findings. The monies would flow back through the corporate form and they could be used to pay salaries, they could be used to pay weaponry, they could be used to pay for everything that a military needs,.

But not coming through the Russian state. It's always gonna be a game of whack-a-mole for theUS and other governments because the more companiesthat are sanctioned, the more companies will becreated to evade sanctions. Every part of what the Wagner Group does is directed by the state for the state to the profit of the state. But from the beginning,.

The Wagner Group was carefully engineered to hide its connection to the Kremlin. Ukrainian and Western officials say that the way it wasdone was Yevgeny Prigozhin through his catering company, Concord, was making money fromdefense industry contracts so he was gettingcontracts to provide food and other services for the Russian army, which he was then able toreinvest into the Wagner Group.

It is a classic moneylaundering technique. Concord Catering was what it sounds like. It was set up as a catering company that had sweetheartdeals with the Kremlin. So the Kremlin would pay it and it was the catering company. And then as part of that, there are ways to skimthat money off the top and ensure that the moneygoes to the appropriate folks.

That Prigozhin wants to pay. It was through parts of that money flow that it's expected thatWagner got its start. The origin story of the Wagner Group is basically a battlefield rumor. At the beginning of the war in Donbas and the annexation of Crimea in 2014, we saw a lot of guys without insignia, you know, the littlegreen men running around.

And they were often talkedabout as not being there. The Kremlin always believed that Ukraine should be part of Russia and that naturally theUkrainians should support Russia so it tried to foment arevolution, some kind of uprising in Eastern Ukraine. Russia used small mercenary groups to support pro-Russian separatists in their fight against Ukrainian forces.

Now one of these groups was Wagner. Because they offered plausible deniability for the Russians, they couldsay that these were locals that had simply decided to rise up against the rulers in Kyiv. There are no Russian units in the east of Ukraine, nospecial services, no instructors. Those are all local residents. Dmitry Utkin was one ofthe original commanders.

In Wagner and in fact,his call sign was Wagner and that's what gave the unit its name. Now he was known as Wagner because of his neo-Nazi sympathies. Russia's attempt to foment an uprising in Donbas ultimatelyfaced stiff resistance from the Ukrainian army. And according to the Ukrainianintelligence service, the Kremlin used Utkin and his Wagner unit.

To target pro-Russian separatists who opposed negotiatinga ceasefire with Ukraine. Essentially, they were adeath squad that was sent out to clean up any of the political problems that the Kremlin was dealing with during this negotiation process. The might of Wagner Grouprose from year to year because they appear to be very effective for this Russian authoritarian regime.

For Putin himself, he could hide any kind of his criminal activities using these kind of troops. In 2015, Russia intervened in the Syrian CivilWar and Wagner was used to protect energy resourcesfor the Assad regime. It was the beginning of a newbusiness model for the group. And in return, they get ashare of the natural resources, the looting of the country.

It was a pivotal role in a conflict that put one of Russia's mostimportant allies at risk. That meant Wagner and the Russian military fought against any combinationof US-backed rebels, Kurdish forces, and ISIS. Wagner employed its fighters in Syria through a company called Evro Polis. Evro Polis was also the companythe Syrian government hired to protect its oil fields.

Ultimately these shell companies that are paying the salariesof Wagner Group fighters, they're nothing more than that. They're just paper passthroughs that allow Russia to manage money and men and make sure that there areno prying eyes in the deals. Oil was particularly lucrative for Wagner in Syria. Evro Polis's contractwith the Syrian government.

Shows that for everyoil field it captured, it got 25% of production. 25% of the natural resources,the energy resources that were able to be exploited. An incredible amount for acompany far afield in Russia. By 2017, Wagner captured at least four of the country's largestoil and gas fields, which earned the grouptens of millions of dollars per year from each field.

Make sure that you secure the oil and gas, get it before the Americans get it or get it before the Kurdsget it, but get there. That was the objective. Al-Shaer gas field in Homs is one of the largest in Syria. In 2017, Wagner workedwith the Syrian military to defend it from ISIS. Many of the Syrian troops.

Had been forced intoservice by the Assad regime. During a Battle with ISIS, some of those Syrianfighters tried to escape. Wagner found one of them and decided to make an example of him. His name was Muhammad Ismail. Wagner fighters filmed themselves as they tortured, killed, andmutilated Muhammad Ismail. We see kind of this impulsetoward memorializing.

Terrorizing incidents. This helps with the kindof psychological effects. Don't mess with us. We're coming and whenwe come, be prepared. In 2018, Wagner forcesattempted to capture the Conoco gas plant in Kashamfrom US-backed rebel forces. There was already kind of a lot of tension leading up to the Battle of Kasham, and then when the Russian regular forces.

Couldn't give the Americans an answer, a satisfactory answeras to who was down there doing that fighting creepingtoward the Conoco gas plant, well, it was kind of all bets off. The US military sent up awhole bunch of air cover and it was an absolute bombardment. Even though Wagner lost the fight for the Conoco gas plant, they still served avery important purpose,.

Taking heavy losses that theRussian military couldn't. You can't count what you can't see and you can't count what you don't know. One of my duties was toactually fly on board of transport aircrafts. Russian military aircraftswere filled with bodies killed in action operatorsfrom Wagner Group. What I witnessed being at mission at Syria as an Air Force officerwas this Wagner Group.

Used all the resources ofRussian official military. They used their military aviation, they used their logistic capabilities, they used their military bases. By 2019, the Syrian government awarded several Wagner companiesoil and gas drilling rights to about 10,000 square milesof land across the country. As recently as 2021, a Wagner company was awarded oil and gas drilling rights.

For 2000 square milesof offshore territory. Some would point to Syria as a pretty successful modelof how business could be done. They went in surreptitiously, they managed to grab back alot of the important oil, gas, and mineral resources for theSyrian state and for Russia, and they did that at minimal cost. Russia's found itselfa very successful model and it wanted to replicate it.

And the group did just that as it expanded to Africa. I'd say the biggest successfor the Wagner Group that we know of now is inthe Central African Republic. In Africa, Wagner set up even more shell companiesto mine natural resources and sell them around the world. Wagner was able to do that through offering security services.

Wagner targets countries with ongoing security issues. Some are former French colonieswith governments weakened in the wake of reducedFrench military presence. In the Central African Republic, Wagner uses a company calledSewa Security Services to provide security to the president and other high level officials. Sewa is a subsidiary of Lobaye Invest,.

Which has at least threemining licenses in the country. The first Wagner troops arrived in the Central AfricanRepublic in January of 2018 where they quickly got to workcarrying out training tasks and setting up bases wherethey could help to instruct local armed forces. Wagner quickly got towork taking over mines. One of the largest is aroughly 138 square mile swath of land known as the Ndassima mine.

It was a small scale mine whereeverything was done by hand. Wagner developed it into the only industrializedgold mine in the country. I'm a lawyer for Axmin, a company based inCentral African Republic. We've been listed in Toronto Exchange. Axmin was granted the Ndassimamining license back in 2010. Unfortunately, in 2013,a civil war broke out so obviously as a company,.

We weren't able to go into exploration. Rebel groups like the Union for Peace, known as UPC, took controlof the Ndassima mine for the next several years, until Wagner forces took over around 2017. In 2019, we received adocument from the government saying that our permit was canceled. Two months later, we receivedinformation that in fact, Midas, which in fact was run by Wagner,.

It was awarded our license in Ndassima. Midas Resources is a Wagner company created for mining in theCentral African Republic. The Journal was unable to find any prior mining history for Midas. In a 2011 report, Axmin projected Ndassima could produce more than1.4 million ounces of gold over about eight years. That's nearly $3 billionworth at today's prices.

Today, the governmenthas no way of knowing what's going on in the field because it has become offlimit for the government since Wagner took over. Satellite imagery analyzed by The Wall StreetJournal further confirms Wagner's presence at the mine. This December 2022 image showsa Mi-8 or Mi-17 helicopter, the same kind of choppersWagner uses elsewhere in Africa.

Here, a type of armored vehicle military analysts call a Wagner wagon is identifiable by itsroof mounted extra tire and its pointed front end. These customized combat trucks were also used by Wagnerforces in Syria and Libya. Satellite images show the expansion and industrialization of the mine. On the right, we can see heavy machinery.

We're able to actually see some dump trucks anddiggers in the imagery that have been expandingthese open pit mines. On the left, we can see the expansion of facilities and two processing lines. Together, these developmentsshow the country's first industrialized goldmine built by Wagner. We are not naive about the situation. It's highly unlikelythat we will get it back.

As Wagner-linked companies took control of mines, its fighters killed anyone in their path. One such incident occurred in2021 in the village of Boyo, about 100 miles southof the Ndassima mine. The Muslim community there was targeted because Wagner forces andtheir allies believed them to be helping the UPC rebels, who previously controlled the mine.

The Boyo massacre was documented in a 2022 report to theUN Human Rights Council, which detailed the brutalassault on civilians there. The Boyo Massacre is one small example of atrocities Wagner hascommitted across the continent. At the same time, Wagner-backed companies continue to spring up across Africa in different sectors of the economy, particularly in theCentral African Republic.

An overall playbook is step one, enter into a military technicalagreement with Country X, Central African Republic, Mali. You get the helicopters, you get the guys who fly the helicopters. You get the jet fighters, you get the guys whofly those jet fighters. You get the infantry fighting vehicles, you get the guys who drive them.

That's the playbook, butthen there's a second layer. We see this narrative of Russia coming in asa friend and a helper repeated in various types ofpropaganda and disinformation, ranging from Soviet art style billboards in cities in the Central African Republic, and even getting down to the level of creating children's cartoons. We will make sure that the story.

That you're trying tosell to your electorate is the one that's sold on social media. Officials, some people are just saddened by what's happening in the country. Things are getting worse and worse. The country has becomea sort of rogue state with the Wagner calling all the the shots on behalf of the government. U.S. and European security officials.

Told The Journal that Wagneris also trying to expand to Burkina Faso, Chad, and Ivory Coast. Every weapon that goesinto Africa is money. Every bit of gold that comesout of Africa is money. That money services alot of different needs. It has been all along asanctions management strategy insulating Russia fromwhat would inevitably come if it ever crossed the line into Ukraine. After backing Wagner.

Through its massive expansion in Africa, Russia called the group back for the urgent need of the state, a full-scale war on Ukraine. Wagner would soon outshinethe Russian military on the battlefield. It's expected that the moneythat Wagner, Prigozhin, and their front companies arereaping throughout Africa, hundreds of millions of dollars a year,.

Much of that is expectedto go back to Russia, some into Prigozhin's pockets, but much of it for thewar effort in Ukraine. The initial invasion on February the 24th was carried out by the Russian military. They fired missiles,they sent in war planes, and then they sent in armored columns. And they very much thoughtthat this was a war that would last for a few days.

We know that there was money flowing outward from the Kremlin toPrigozhin and his companies. We know that some of that moneywas funneled in to Wagner. The Wall Street Journal reviewed contracts between the Russiangovernment and 25 companies tied to Prigozhin, likely onlya small portion of the total. Collectively, thesecompanies won more than $5 billion in contractsbetween 2014 and 2023 with a notable spike in the amount.

In the year after the war began. So a significant amount ofmoney for guns, for tanks, for other weaponry that can be used, that all needs to be funded somehow. As Moscow's plan to take Kyiv failed, Russian troops and Wagnerfighters were stuck in towns on the outskirts of the city. One example that we haveof how the Wagner Group was active around Kyiv wasfrom the village of Motyzhyn.

According to prosecutors and according to the Ukrainian soldiers, Wagner Group was brought in as an interrogation and torture team. As the Litvynenkos ran from the indiscriminate fire,their daughter was shot. Mykola pleaded with theRussians to save her. They were taken to a Russianbase at a nearby farmhouse. As the conflict evolved,.

Russia's needs for Wagner also evolved. Russia put a lot morefocus on its operations in the east of Ukraine. Wagner Group became acritical part of this. Here you see them reallyserving the purpose of doing a couple of different things. One, that frontline piece but also they've obviouslybeen very important for force mobilization.

Wagner began recruiting from prisons to make up for large Russianlosses on the battlefield and to avoid drafting morecivilians into the war. This method was used inWorld War II by Stalin. Going into the prisons,pulling people out, putting them on the front line, turning them into cannon fodder. The move to recruit from prisons signified a new phase for Wagner,.

One in which the group steppedfirmly out of the shadows. It represents the clearest evidence yet of just how connectedWagner's operations are to the Kremlin. The Wall Street Journal interviewed convicts recruited by Wagner and later captured by Ukrainian forces who describe beingtransported from their prisons to the front lines inUkraine with state resources.

Social media videos gathered and verified by The Journal show dozens of trucks with federal prison markingsarriving at commercial airports and military airfields across the country. At the airport in Penza, Russia, these trucks can be seendriving onto the tarmac. Men who appear to be prisoners unload from the trucksnear several airplanes, at least one of which is registered.

To the Russian Air Force. The fact that Prigozhincan recruit in prisons demonstrates the level ofpower that he achieved. I think you can likely expect to see an expansion for Wagner of its contracts and ties within Russia so long as it's perceivedto be successful. By May of 2023, the man who started out 10years ago as Putin's chef.

Was openly attackingRussia's Ministry of Defense and its top commander in Ukraine, acts that would send most to prison. We should expect the WagnerGroup to continually change according to Russia's fortuneswhen it comes to arms, guns, gas, oil, and gold. I think it's likely that in the future you won't have any contractswith the Wagner Group publicly in any jurisdiction outsideof Russia or its close allies.

We may see a new name. Could be anything, couldbe Tchaikovsky Group. We don't know. At this point in time, Wagner activity is confirmedon at least four continents. It's not only about Africa, it's also about Latin America. It's not just that Russia is spreading its influencein these countries,.

But Russia is further destabilizing some of the areas where globalsecurity is at its weakest. Democracy's at stake inmany of these countries. But what's at stake is evensomething more fundamental for the people of those jurisdictions, it's their very lives.

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