One year ago, on June 24, 2023, the late Yevgeny Prigozhin led over 8,000 Wagner personnel on a “march for justice” against the russian military’s high command, accusing them of corruption and dereliction of duty. Russia has subsequently arrested several high-profile military leaders on accusations of corruption. Whilst a particular target of Prigohzin’s scorn, the ex-russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, has since been replaced, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
Although Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a August 23, 2023 plane crash, his Wagner Group private military company has survived him, now directed by his son Pavel Prigozhin and commanded by Anton (Lotos) Yelizarov. The Wagner Group withdrew from the frontlines in Ukraine during May 2023, being replaced by Chechen and russian MOD Volunteer Corps irregular forces. Whilst in Africa, the russian MOD’s Africa Corps replaced the Wagner Group’s deployments in Syria and Libya in late 2023 and early 2024 respectively. The Wagner Group nevertheless maintains independent deployments in Belarus, Mali and the Central African Republic.
Read more: The UK Defense Intelligence: Following Wagner Group’s Exit, Chechnya Steps Up Military Role
Yevgeny Prigozhin pioneered the practice of recruiting prisoners to serve in Ukraine. From July 2022 until February 2023, when the russian MOD took over the practice, the Wagner Group recruited over 48,000 prisoners, over 17,000 of whom were subsequently killed in action. Since February 2022, russia’s total prison population has decreased by at least 150,000. It is likely that a majority of these prisoners were released in exchange for agreeing to fight in Ukraine.
Read more: Wagner PMC Militants Continue Training Belarusian Military: Fighters Fire From T-72B Tanks, BMP-2 IFVs, AGS-17
