"The presence of Wagner's paramilitaries is almost continuous in Ukraine"

• On the night of February 23 to 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military offensive in Ukraine.

• According to the British newspaper 

  The Times,

  several hundred paramilitaries employed by the private company Wagner were sent to the Ukrainian capital with the mission of eliminating President Volodymyr Zelensky.

• For journalist Alexandra Jousset, co-director of an unprecedented investigation devoted to this Russian society, "deploying these men on the ground is giving carte blanche to possible abuses".

They have been acting with complete impunity in the four corners of the world since 2014. Deployed in Syria, then in Libya, in the Central African Republic or more recently in Mali, the mercenaries recruited by the private Russian company Wagner are now present in Ukraine, the British newspaper revealed on Monday.

.

Nothing surprising for the journalist Alexandra Jousset, at the origin of an edifying investigation on this organization and co-directed with her colleague Ksenya Bolchakova.

Broadcast on France 5, this rich and extensive documentary looks back at the genesis of Wagner, details his complex links with the Kremlin and reports the methods of destabilization used by this group during various conflicts.

In an interview with 

Alexandra Jousset analyzes the troubled role played by this organization and the consequences of its involvement in the war which has pitted Ukraine against Vladimir Putin's Russia since February 23.

What is the Wagner Society?

It is a Russian private military company.

It's a company of mercenaries.

In Russia, this type of private military organization is illegal, so Wagner has no legal existence.

It was created between 2013 and 2014 and bears the nom de guerre of the founder of the first group of fighters, Dimitri Utkin.

He is an admirer of Adolf Hitler who had the symbol of the SS tattooed on his neck.

The profiles of the members of Wagner are however quite heterogeneous, there are men of Russian nationality but also Ukrainians.

During our investigation, we met former members of the French foreign legion, ex-convicts, former reservists.

Their common point is to sell their services in exchange for bonuses.

What do we know about the links maintained between this company and the Russian authorities?

It cannot be said that there is a direct link between Wagner and the Kremlin.

They also play on this “grey area”.

But what we do know is that this company uses the means of the Russian Ministry of Defense to carry out its missions throughout the world.

Wagner's training and recruitment center is also located right next to a base of the GRU, the Russian intelligence service and it is known that reports written by Wagner's command were sent to the Chief of Staff of the Russian army during missions carried out in Libya, for example.

During our investigation, one of our interlocutors, who worked for the Wagner group, clearly told us: “We are a subsidiary of the Russian government”.

This is an open secret based on the concept of “plausible deniability”.

When Wagner commits abuses, Vladimir Putin can perfectly say: "It's not us, we have no connection with them and if you have a problem with this company, contact them".

But all the evidence we have gathered demonstrates that the organization could not act without the encouragement or consent of the Kremlin.

According to information from the British newspaper

more than 400 Russian mercenaries affiliated with this company were dispatched to the Ukrainian capital to assassinate the president.

How do you analyze this information?

Personally, we could not corroborate this information.

On the other hand, it is known that several Russian private military companies, including Wagner, are currently deployed in Ukraine.

Since 2014, the presence of these paramilitaries has been almost continuous in this country.

Moreover, the first missions entrusted to Wagner took place in Ukraine and consisted in eliminating separatist leaders who were taking too much power.

This type of mission is therefore part of the organization's DNA.

Then, the members of Wagner mainly carried out military police missions in the Donbass.

They assisted the local forces to maintain order.

Our file on the conflict

What role can this private organization play in the current conflict in Ukraine?

According to our sources, despite the strong presence of paramilitaries affiliated with these private companies in Ukraine, this remains a drop in the bucket compared to the numbers deployed by the regular Russian army.

Wagner will not change the face of the conflict.

On the other hand, it is an effective means of terrorizing the population.

Deploying these men on the ground is giving carte blanche to possible abuses.

This is what happened in the Central African Republic.

Wagner's other asset is his ability to polarize the debate and to deploy disinformation campaigns.

The activities of this company are not limited only to the military field.

In 2016, this organization partly orchestrated the disinformation campaign targeting the US presidential election using “troll farms” on social media.

This model was then replicated in Africa.

It is a complex weapon, evolved and thought out.

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