After the mutiny

What happened to the Wagner Group’s mercenaries in the year since Prigozhin’s ‘march on Moscow’?

One year ago, Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin launched a short-lived mutiny against the Russian Defense Ministry. His mercenaries began marching towards Moscow, making it all the way to Rostov-on-Don without encountering much resistance. But by the next evening, the “Wagnerites” had returned to their field camps and the Kremlin announced that the mercenaries had two options: enlist in the Russian military or leave Russia for Belarus. Exactly two months later, Prigozhin and some of his associates died in a plane crash. Since then, Prigozhin’s 26-year-old son has inherited his assets and the Wagner Group’s mercenaries in Syria and Africa have been folded into the Russian army. In a new report, BBC News Russian recounts what has become of the Wagner Group’s fighters.

Syria

Wagner Group mercenaries have been active in Syria since at least 2015. After Prigozhin’s June 2023 mutiny, Syria was reportedly one of the destinations where the mutineers were allowed to go. Two informed sources told BBC News Russian that “Wagnerites” stationed in Syria were offered official contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry. As a result, all of the Russian fighters in Syria today are now professional soldiers.

“[It was] either the Defense Ministry or [the highway],” a former Wagner Group commander told BBC News Russian.

The BBC report also notes that the voting results from Russia’s 2024 presidential election revealed that the Russian army contingent in Syria has 500 more people than it did during the parliamentary vote in 2021. BBC News Russian suggests that this is due to the mercenaries stationed there having officially joined the Russian army’s ranks.

Africa

In late 2023, reports emerged that Russia was putting together an Africa Corps meant to replace Wagner Group structures operating on the continent. At the time, the Russian business daily Vedomosti reported that the Africa Corps would allegedly operate in Burkina-Faso, Libya, Mali, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Niger.

According to Vedomosti’s sources, the Africa Corps would report directly to the Russian Defense Ministry and be under the supervision of Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Evkurov. Together with GRU General Vladimir Alekseyev, who oversees the Redut PMC (private military company), Evkurov made multiple trips to Africa from September to December 2023, to establish “a new format of cooperation with African countries where military and political support was previously provided through private military companies.”

According to BBC News Russian, Wagner Group mercenaries in several African countries signed contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry to enlist in the Africa Corps. By the summer of 2024, only the Wagner Group’s operations in the CAR remained unchanged.

Based on the BBC’s reporting, it follows that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s son Pavel is leading the Wagner Group’s operations in the CAR. “Moscow gave the heir the go-ahead to continue doing what his father was doing in Africa — on the condition that it doesn’t contradict Russia’s interests,” a source who used to work with Prigozhin Senior told the BBC.

The bitter truth is that events in Russia affect your life, too. Help Meduza continue to bring news from Russia to readers around the world by setting up a monthly donation.

Pavel Prigozhin has also tried to revive his father’s political projects in Africa, the BBC reports. “Prigozhin’s empire is showing signs of life once again,” one unnamed source said. “Apparently, everything was agreed upon with someone in Moscow. They’re interested in southern Africa and, first and foremost, South Africa. They’re still involved in the same stuff: political processes, elections, [and] influencing public opinion through mass media.”

Russia

In late October 2023, commander Apty Alaudinov announced that former Wagner mercenaries were transferring to Chechnya’s Akhmat Special Forces unit and going to fight in Ukraine. According to Alaudinov, this “massive recruitment” of former Wagner fighters even included ex-commanders. Chechnya Governor Ramzan Kadyrov was even more specific, claiming that more than 170 former mercenaries had joined his Akhmat military unit. But sources told BBC News Russian at the time that no more than 50 mercenaries actually joined Akhmat.

On April 5, Kadyrov announced another massive influx of former mercenaries into the Akhmat Special Forces, claiming that 3,000 fighters had joined alongside well-known mercenary commander Alexander Kuznetsov (call sign, Ratibor). The next day, Kuznetsov addressed his fellow mercenaries in a video, saying, “Everything will be the same as it was in the Wagner PMC, one-to-one. Without any paperwork [...] and so on.”

Whether 3,000 ex-Wagner mercenaries actually joined Akhmat has not been confirmed; there has been no news about Kuznetsov and his men since April.