In some cases, the United States has information that “Russian military officers were, in fact, subordinate to Wagner’s command.”
New U.S. intelligence released recently suggests Russian mercenary group Wagner is influencing and recruiting prison inmates — including some with serious health problems — to serve as adjuncts to Moscow’s troops.
According to a senior US official, the group recently received weapons from North Korea, a sign of its growing involvement in the war in Ukraine.
The U.S. believes the Wagner Group could enter a power struggle with the Russian military as it prepares to leverage with the Kremlin.
“In some cases, Russian military officers were actually subservient to the Wagners,” said John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator for the US National Security Council. “It is clear that Wagner is gaining importance as a rival powerhouse for the Russian military and other Russian ministries.”
The revelations about the Wagner group come a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s historic visit to Washington, in which he thanked the United States for military aid and called for more strategies to counter Russian advances.
Wagner emerged as a key player in the 10-month conflict. The group is often described as President Vladimir Putin’s unofficial troop. Since its emergence in 2014, it has expanded its presence globally, and has been accused of war crimes in Africa, Syria and Ukraine.
On Wednesday, the US applied new restrictions to Wagner Group’s access to technology exports.
Kirby said the U.S. estimates that the Wagner group currently employs about 50,000 people inside Ukraine, 40,000 of whom may be criminals recruited from Russian prisons. He explained that the group spends US$100 million a month to finance its operations in Ukraine.
The group’s founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, personally visited Russian prisons and forced criminals to fight on the front lines. Some of these people suffer from “serious health conditions,” Kirby said.
“Mr. Prigozhin is, quite simply, ready to turn these Russian men into cannon fodder in Buckmutt. The fact is that in recent weeks about 1,000 Wagner soldiers have been killed in combat, and we believe that 90% of those 1,000 soldiers are actually criminals,” Kirby said.
Prigozhin, sometimes referred to as “Putin’s right-hand man,” already has close ties to the Russian president. But Kirby suggested that Prigozhin continues to work on strengthening the relationship through his efforts to support Russian forces through his mercenary recruitment.
“He is Mr. Putin and how well he is viewed by the Kremlin,” he said. “We might even go so far as to say it’s gaining more and more influence.”
Last month, Wagner received a delivery of infantry mortars and missiles from North Korea, a sign that Russia and its military partners are continuing to work around Western sanctions and export restrictions, Kirby said.
The Wagner group, not the Russian government, paid for the equipment. The US does not believe this will significantly change the dynamics of the battlefield in Ukraine – but it has suggested that North Korea may be planning to deliver more supplies.
Prigogine said Thursday that Kirby’s claims that his group had taken weapons from North Korea were “rumors and speculation.”
“Everybody knows that North Korea has not supplied weapons to the Russian Federation for a long time,” Prigozhin said in a statement on his Telegram page. “And no other such attempt has been made. Therefore, this information about weapons supplied by the DPRK is nothing more than rumors and speculations.
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”