Russian mercenaries linked to the far right who now appear to be fighting in Ukraine have likely been involved in the deaths of hundreds of innocent people across Africa, according to conflict monitors who liken the soldiers-for-hire to opportunistic criminals who prey on civilians.
The Wagner Group, as the employer for these mercenaries is popularly known, is "shrouded in secrecy," Timothy Lay, an analyst at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), said in an interview.
"It's widely recognized that they are in Ukraine," Lay said, pointing to varied evidence such as radio intercepts that suggest their involvement in the Bucha massacre, "but actually identifying individual events where they've engaged in activity is quite difficult."
The group is believed to be owned by Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a chef and oligarch who enjoys a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Wagner's forces often deploy in support of the Kremlin's foreign policy objectives, enabling Moscow to limit its officially recognized casualties.
On Telegram, the group's members have been found posting neo-Nazi imagery while deployed in Libya and sharing evidence of their atrocities in Syria, including the torture and beheading of a detainee.
In Africa, Wagner's operations also stand out. In a new report, ACLED, a nonprofit that tracks violence in conflict zones, sheds light on their actions in two oft-overlooked countries on the continent.
According to ACLED researchers citing media reports, human rights groups, and government statements, Russian mercenaries in the Central African Republic have, since December 2020, been identified as perpetrators in 180 attacks on civilians — equating to 52% of all their engagements in the country. When deployed alongside state forces, which are fighting an insurgency, 27% of its attacks targeted civilians, per the report, but when deployed alone, that number rose to 70%.
"Some of these activities, on the face of them at least, are quite opportunistic," Lay said. In a different context, he said, they would be seen not as the actions of an undisciplined military force — or an intentionally brutal if professional one — but as "a kind of criminal violence," with Wagner mercenaries looting homes, shops, and even mines.