Global Courant
The volatile rebellion of Russia’s heavily armed mercenary Wagner — and his scorched earth policy from Ukraine to Syria to sub-Saharan Africa — prompted a call on Sunday from a global intelligence and security consultancy for the Biden administration to consider Wagner on as a foreign terrorist entity. .
In its new 44-page The Soufan Group report titled “Wagner Group: The Evolution of a Private Army,” it says: “The U.S. government and allies should consider designating Wagner as an FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organization). the recent US designation of the Wagner Group as a transnational criminal organization, the United States should consider designating it as a foreign terrorist organization, particularly in light of its activities outside conflict zones, where its conduct is subject to international humanitarian right as a non-state armed group.”
When asked if the Biden administration plans to sanction Wagner as a foreign terrorist organization, a spokesperson for the US State Department told Fox News Digital, “In general, we are not looking ahead to potential sanctions.”
BIDEN ADMIN, FOREIGN OFFICIALS RESPOND AS WAGNER GROUP MAKES ‘MARCH FOR JUSTICE’ TO MOSCOW
A split image shows Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin; a Wagner group patrol in an area near a tank in Rostov-on-Don; and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the middle (Prigozhin Press Service via AP/STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images/GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
Founded in 2014 by Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, who had just fled to Belarus, the Wagner Group was closely associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin before announcing his march on Moscow with a contingent of 25,000 mercenaries. Prigozhin pulled the plug on the march to avoid bloodshed. Wagner’s total strength is estimated to be over 50,000 members.
The report notes: “Wagner’s willingness to use force and target civilians makes it difficult for international and regional actors to develop conflict prevention and mitigation strategies when the group’s efforts are focused on supporting specific parties in conflicts rather than on more comprehensive peace processes Wagner’s reports of torture, sexual violence and mass killings run counter to all efforts to promote dialogue, mediate disagreements or promote comprehensive peace processes between parties to intrastate conflicts.
According to the Soufan report, “In Ukraine, the Wagner group has also engaged in a wide range of criminal activities, such as murder, sabotage, rape and looting. It has been involved in attempts to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and planted explosives around a nuclear facility.”
Wagner is by no means an invincible military organization. During the Trump administration in 2018, US troops killed between 200 and 300 Wagner mercenaries in Syria, who were employed by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. The battle was widely regarded as one of the deadliest clashes between the US military and Russian contract soldiers since the Cold War.
In this handout photo taken from video and released by Prigozhin Press Service on Saturday, May 20, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group military company, speaks with a Russian national flag before his soldiers in Bakhmut, Ukraine. (Prigozhin Press Service via AP)
Soufan Center wrote: “While Wagner has demonstrated certain operational capabilities in certain domains, its effectiveness should not be overstated. The humiliating defeat by US special forces in Syria, the countless lives it sacrificed as cannon fodder in Ukraine, and the failure of the group to curb an insurgency in Mozambique testify to this.”
WAGNER GROUP: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT RUSSIAN RENTAL LIST GROUP IN UKRAINE
A banner depicting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin reading “Justice prevails” hangs along a highway in the Syrian capital Damascus on March 8, 2022. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)
The co-authors of the Soufan report: “Wagner functions like a Swiss army knife in many ways,” said Colin P. Clarke, a co-author of the Soufan report, adding, “The group is versatile and adept.”
According to a Naureen Chowdhury Fink, also a co-author of the report, “The group’s brutality against civilians and its support for predatory governments prolongs and magnifies the instability and insecurity that led governments to seek their help in the first place.”
She said that “current events may make Prigozhin’s fate uncertain, but the group’s impact is undeniable and raises questions about who is taking the reins of their global business ventures and operations.”
Members of the Wagner group inspect a car on a street of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023. President Vladimir Putin said on June 24, 2023 that an armed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries was a “stab in the back” and that the group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had betrayed Russia, vowing to punish the dissidents. Prigozhin said his fighters control key military sites in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. (Photo by STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)
Former U.S. intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler told Fox New Digital that the “Wagner Group is not a traditional PMC (Private Military Company), but rather an extension of the Russian state. It was created for the specific purpose of handling ‘delicate matters’ on behalf of the Kremlin when plausible deniability was required The Russian state deployed Wagner to conduct covert influence and destabilization operations around the world They are not responsible under Russian law, Wagner victims are not counted as part of the casualties of regular Russian military.”
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Koffler strongly believes that the recent uprising may have been pre-planned, noting, “Wagner is Putin’s personal heat team. Wagner/Prigozhin needs Putin and Putin needs Wagner,” she stated.
Koffler also warned: “In case my analysis of the false flag is wrong and Prigozhin does indeed fall out of favor, he will die under mysterious circumstances in the next 2-3 months. Putin does not tolerate traitors and hunts them wherever … they are in the world. Putin will turn Wagner into another mercenary team posing as a Western-style PMC and appoint someone to replace Prigozhin.”
Benjamin Weinthal reports on Israel, Iran, Syria, Turkey and Europe for Fox News Digital. Benjamin has contributed articles to The Wall Street Journal, The Jerusalem Post, Foreign Policy, Haaretz, Forbes, and The New York Post. You can follow Benjamin on Twitter @BenWeinthal.
