Russia crisis: The sight of armed forces of the Russian mercenary group Wagner marching towards the city of Rostov-on-Don and allegedly taking control of its key military sites has sparked a major crisis in Moscow amid the ongoing war with its neighbour Ukraine.

In an escalation of infighting within Russia, Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin– a Russian oligarch, a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin and the head of the Wagner mercenary group, warned the Putin government to topple the country’s Defence Ministry and threatened to “destroy everything” in their way.

Prigozhin has accused Russian forces of launching an attack on a Wagner military camp and killing a large number of his fighters. The Russian Defense Ministry has so far refuted the claims and a case has been filed against the Wagner chief for organising an armed mutiny to overthrow the government.

What is the Wagner group?

The Wagner Group, which is also known as PMC Wagner, made headlines in 2014 after it provided support to the pro-Russian separatist movement in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. The group was established by Dmitry Utkin, an ex-Russian military officer and named it after his former call sign.

According to BBC, it was initially a secretive organisation operating in the Middle East and Africa, but the number of fighters rose from 5,000 soldiers in 2014 to 50,000 at present, and the group played a key role in the invasion of Ukraine last year.

Despite private military companies being illegal in Russia, they are allegedly used for the war with Ukraine as Russia had shortage of army personnel. As such, the Wagner Group registered itself as a company in 2022 and 80% of its troops in Ukraine were recruited from prisons.

Apart from Ukraine, the Wagner Group fighters have also operated in Syria, Libya, Mali and Sudan, and have been accused of excessive brutality and war crimes. The mercenaries are accused of torturing and murdering civilians in Ukraine in 2022. The group is also accused of rape and robberies in the Central African Republic.

The US placed sanctions against the Wagner group last month after it was suspected that its activities in Africa was used to support Russia’s war against Ukraine, mainly through shipments of military equipment. 

Described as a patriotic organisation in Russia, the group was largely responsible for the capture of Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine. The Wagner mercenaries were then congratulated by the Russian Defence Ministry.

The group leader Prigozhin recently came into confrontation with Russia after he accused defence minister Sergei Shoigu of being incompetent and undersupplying Wagner fighters during the war with Ukraine. He also rebutted the ministry’s mandate that ‘volunteer formations’ must sign contracts with it, seeing it as a move to gain control over the group. 

Amid the current crisis, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) press office, in a statement condemned the act and dubbed his statements called for an armed civil conflict on Russian territory.

“Prigozhin’s statements and actions effectively constitute calls for an armed civil conflict on Russian territory and a stab in the back of Russian servicemen fighting with pro-Nazi Ukrainian forces,” the press office said.

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