Tag: Mercenaries and Private Military Contractors

A Prison at War: The Convicts Sustaining Putin’s Invasion

Aleksandr Mokin had lost the will to live. Convicted of selling drugs and ostracized by his family, he endured abuse from guards and frequent spells in solitary confinement at a high-security Russian prison. He told a friend he felt alone and racked with guilt. Then, in the summer of 2022, Mr. Mokin and other inmates […]

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Battle for Influence Rages in Heart of Wagner’s Operations in Africa

In palmier times, the leader of the Wagner group, Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, appeared at a Russian cultural center in the capital of the Central African Republic, sitting with schoolchildren and promising them free laptops. But Mr. Prigozhin’s death in August has rattled the mercenary group’s once-cozy relations with the Central African Republic, which is now […]

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Russia Tries to Lure Wagner Veterans Back Into Ukraine War

Russia’s armed forces are stepping up their efforts to recruit veterans of the Wagner paramilitary group, according to former fighters and military bloggers, as the Kremlin tries to avoid another round of mobilization and salvage some of the force’s fighting potential in the wake of its leader’s mutiny and death. Four former Russian inmates who […]

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Colombia’s Economic Woes Push Fighters to Join Ukraine War

Manuel Barrios joined the battle against Russian forces in Ukraine because a bank threatened to repossess his home in Colombia. Luis Alejandro Herrera returned to the front to recover the savings he lost in a failed attempt to enter the United States through Mexico. Jhoan Cerón fought to provide for his toddler. All three died […]

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Putin Suggests New Narrative for Prigozhin Plane Crash: Cocaine and Grenades

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia claimed on Thursday that the warlord Yevgeny V. Prigozhin and his associates may have brought down their private jet with hand grenades while possibly under the influence of cocaine — a new narrative from the Kremlin about the August plane crash widely seen as an assassination carried out by […]

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After Prigozhin’s Death, a High-Stakes Scramble for His Empire

African leaders allied with Russia had grown used to dealing with Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the swaggering, profane mercenary leader who traveled the continent by private jet, offering to prop up shaky regimes with guns and propaganda in return for gold and diamonds. But the Russian delegation that toured three African countries last week was led […]

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