MOSCOW: Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, said on Monday he had founded the Wagner mercenary group and confirmed its deployment to countries in Latin America and Africa.
Prigozhin said in a statement from his company, Concord, that he founded the group to send fighters to Ukraine’s Donbas region in 2014.
“From that moment, on May 1, 2014, a group of patriots was born, which later acquired the name BTG Wagner,” he said.
Prigozhin, dubbed “Putin’s chef” because of his Kremlin catering contracts, has previously denied links with Wagner.
“I myself cleaned the old weapons, figured out bulletproof vests and found specialists who could help me with this,” Prigozhin added.
“These guys — heroes who defended the Syrian people, other people of Arab countries, destitute Africans and Latin Americans — have become the pillars of our motherland,” he said.
Prigozhin, 61, has been hit with EU and US sanctions, accused of being behind a “troll factory” that attempted to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election.
For years, the Wagner group has been suspected of playing a role in realizing Moscow’s overseas ambitions, with the Kremlin denying any links.
Its presence has been reported in conflict zones including Syria, Mali, Ukraine and the Central African Republic, where it has been accused of abuses and capturing state power.
Critics say it is Putin’s “shadow army,” promoting Russian interests by providing fighters, military instructors and advisers.
Wagner’s presence was forced into the spotlight in 2018 when independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that several Russian-speaking men who killed and mutilated a detainee on video in Syria were Wagner fighters.
Earlier this month, a video was shared on social media seeming to show Prigozhin recruiting inmates of a Russian prison to bolster Wagner’s ranks in Ukraine.
The Russian army has faced difficulties in its seven-month-old military intervention, with Putin last week ordering a partial mobilization of reservists to regain momentum after Kyiv’s forces retook swathes of Moscow-controlled territory in a counter-offensive.
Russian media have reported that Prigozhin controls Wagner’s finances, whereas its operations are managed by Dmitry Utkin, a shadowy figure who allegedly served in Russia’s military intelligence.
Utkin was received at the Kremlin in 2016 for a ceremony paying tribute to “heroes” who served in Syria and has been photographed with Putin.
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Pro-Kremlin businessman confirms he founded Wagner mercenary group
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Pro-Kremlin businessman confirms he founded Wagner mercenary group
- Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin said that he founded the group to send fighters to Ukraine’s Donbas region in 2014
- Critics say it is Putin’s ‘shadow army,’ promoting Russian interests by providing fighters, military instructors and advisers
Afghans mourn villagers killed in Pakistani strikes
- Afghans gathered around a mass grave Sunday to bury villagers killed in overnight air strikes by Pakistan, which said its military targeted militants
BIHSUD: Afghans gathered around a mass grave Sunday to bury villagers killed in overnight air strikes by Pakistan, which said its military targeted militants.
The overnight attacks killed at least 18 people and were the most extensive since border clashes in October, which left more than 70 dead on both sides and wounded hundreds.
“The house was completely destroyed. My children and family members were there. My father and my sons were there. All of them were killed,” said Nezakat, a 35-year-old farmer in Bihsud district, who only gave one name.
Islamabad said it hit seven sites along the border region targeting Afghanistan-based militant groups, in response to suicide bombings in Pakistan.
The military targeted the Pakistani Taliban and its associates, as well as an affiliate of the Daesh group, a statement by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said.
Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said “people’s homes have been destroyed, they have targeted civilians, they have committed this criminal act” with the bombardment of Nangarhar and Paktika provinces.
Residents from around the remote Bihsud district in Nangarhar joined searchers to look for bodies under the rubble, an AFP journalist said, using shovels and a digger.
“People here are ordinary people. The residents of this village are our relatives. When the bombing happened, one person who survived was shouting for help,” said neighbor Amin Gul Amin, 37.
Nangarhar police told AFP the bombardment started at around midnight and hit three districts, with those killed all in a civilian’s house.
“Twenty-three members of his family were buried under the rubble, of whom 18 were killed and five wounded,” said police spokesperson Sayed Tayeeb Hammad.
Strikes elsewhere in Nangarhar wounded two others, while in Paktika an AFP journalist saw a destroyed guesthouse but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
- ‘Calculated response’ -
Afghanistan’s defense ministry said it will “deliver an appropriate and calculated response” to the Pakistani strikes.
The two countries have been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute since the Taliban authorities retook control of Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistani military action killed 70 Afghan civilians between October and December, according to the UN mission in Afghanistan.
Several rounds of negotiations followed an initial ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkiye, but they have failed to produce a lasting agreement.
Saudi Arabia intervened this month, mediating the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October.
The deteriorating relationship has hit people in both countries, with the land border largely shut for months.
Pakistan said Sunday that despite repeated urging by Islamabad, the Taliban authorities have failed to act against militant groups using Afghan territory to carry out attacks in Pakistan.
The Afghan government has denied harboring militants.
Islamabad launched the strikes after a suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad two weeks ago and other such attacks more recently in northwestern Pakistan.
The Daesh group had claimed responsibility for the mosque bombing, which killed at least 40 people and wounded more than 160 in the deadliest attack in Islamabad since 2008.
The militant group’s regional chapter, Islamic State-Khorasan, also claimed a deadly suicide bombing at a Kabul restaurant last month.
The overnight attacks killed at least 18 people and were the most extensive since border clashes in October, which left more than 70 dead on both sides and wounded hundreds.
“The house was completely destroyed. My children and family members were there. My father and my sons were there. All of them were killed,” said Nezakat, a 35-year-old farmer in Bihsud district, who only gave one name.
Islamabad said it hit seven sites along the border region targeting Afghanistan-based militant groups, in response to suicide bombings in Pakistan.
The military targeted the Pakistani Taliban and its associates, as well as an affiliate of the Daesh group, a statement by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said.
Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said “people’s homes have been destroyed, they have targeted civilians, they have committed this criminal act” with the bombardment of Nangarhar and Paktika provinces.
Residents from around the remote Bihsud district in Nangarhar joined searchers to look for bodies under the rubble, an AFP journalist said, using shovels and a digger.
“People here are ordinary people. The residents of this village are our relatives. When the bombing happened, one person who survived was shouting for help,” said neighbor Amin Gul Amin, 37.
Nangarhar police told AFP the bombardment started at around midnight and hit three districts, with those killed all in a civilian’s house.
“Twenty-three members of his family were buried under the rubble, of whom 18 were killed and five wounded,” said police spokesperson Sayed Tayeeb Hammad.
Strikes elsewhere in Nangarhar wounded two others, while in Paktika an AFP journalist saw a destroyed guesthouse but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
- ‘Calculated response’ -
Afghanistan’s defense ministry said it will “deliver an appropriate and calculated response” to the Pakistani strikes.
The two countries have been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute since the Taliban authorities retook control of Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistani military action killed 70 Afghan civilians between October and December, according to the UN mission in Afghanistan.
Several rounds of negotiations followed an initial ceasefire brokered by Qatar and Turkiye, but they have failed to produce a lasting agreement.
Saudi Arabia intervened this month, mediating the release of three Pakistani soldiers captured by Afghanistan in October.
The deteriorating relationship has hit people in both countries, with the land border largely shut for months.
Pakistan said Sunday that despite repeated urging by Islamabad, the Taliban authorities have failed to act against militant groups using Afghan territory to carry out attacks in Pakistan.
The Afghan government has denied harboring militants.
Islamabad launched the strikes after a suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad two weeks ago and other such attacks more recently in northwestern Pakistan.
The Daesh group had claimed responsibility for the mosque bombing, which killed at least 40 people and wounded more than 160 in the deadliest attack in Islamabad since 2008.
The militant group’s regional chapter, Islamic State-Khorasan, also claimed a deadly suicide bombing at a Kabul restaurant last month.
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