[megathread] Wagner Group
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner_Group
* Wagner Group (PMC Wagner): Russian paramilitary organization
* private military company (PMC), a network of mercenaries
* de facto private army of Yevgeny Prigozhin, former close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin
* operates in support of Russian interests; receives equipment f. Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD); has used MoD installations for training
#WagnerGroup #YevgenyPrigozhin #PMCWagner #GRU #Russia #Putin #WarInUkraine
cont'd
* while Wagner Group itself is not ideologically driven, various elements of Wagner have been linked to neo-Nazism & far-right politics
Yevgeny Prigozhin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yevgeny_Prigozhin
Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin is a Russian oligarch, mercenary chief, and a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin until he launched an alleged coup in June 2023.
#PrivateMilitaryCompany #PMC #mercenaries #Russia #VladimirPutin #WarCrimes #MilitaryContractors
cont'd 2/
* Yevgeny Prigozhin controls network of influential companies, including Russian state-backed mercenary company Wagner Group & 3 companies accused of interference in the 2016 & 2018 U.S. elections
& according to 2022 investigation by BellingCat, The Insider, and Der Spiegel, Prigozhin's activities "are tightly integrated with Russia's Defence Ministry & its intelligence arm, the GRU". ...
#WagnerGroup #YevgenyPrigozhin #PMCWagner #GRU #Russia #Putin
@persagen
Reminder: As happy as I will be to watch the Putin regime fall, the next one could be just as bad or perhaps worse.
@persagen
Background:
According to polls, around ¼ of Russians are against the war in Ukraine and want to "normalize" relations with the West.
Around ¼ are angry that Putin isn't extreme enough. They think that Russia could be winning if only they were willing to commit even more war crimes than they already are. These are basically Nazis.
About half are somewhere in between. They have basically checked out and are not paying attention, much like half of Americans.
@persagen
As this civil war unfolds, the half that isn't paying attention will stay paying attention and throw their weight behind one side of the other. I expect this will be very fast when it happens.
Prigozhin is on the Nazi side, and right now he is winning and keeping his name in the news.
@tofugolem I suspect both sides are on the Nazi side. @persagen
@AlliFlowers @persagen
There's a lot of that going around in Russia, but I'm simply not knowledgeable enough to speculate about the attitudes of the "normalize things with the West" crowd in Russia.