Ukraine Invasion: The Rise and Fall of the Wagner Group Rebellion

As the invasion of Ukraine continues, Putin's Kremlin funded paramilitary group, the Wagner Group shocked many when they marched on Moscow from June 23 to 24, 2023. They stopped short of the capital with their tanks and soldiers in the streets occupying a Russian military base. Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin raised the white flag as the attempted rebellion ended.

Prigozhin does not call this a rebellion but a protest against the injustice of Russian authorities. Prigozhin says the war in Ukraine was built on a lie that painted Ukraine as a conspiring aggressor. However, this rebellion was seen as a long personal relationship between Vladimir Putin and Prighozin turned sour.

From Chef to Mercenary Leader

The reason for the rebellion is said to center on a fallout between Putin and Prigozhin. More than a decade ago, Prigozhin was Putin's head chef. He was responsible for a Kremlin serving catering group. He served meals to Putin for over 20 years. Putin and Prigozhin formed a friendship and even celebrated his birthday with Prigozhin in 2003. Before he ran the catering group, he operated multiple restaurants in St. Petersburg in the '90s. Before that he owned several hot dog stands.

Nobody really knows how Prigozhin got to be the leader of a mercenary group. Prior to 2022, Prigozhin denied any involvement with the mercenary group. The Wagner Group was actually started in 2014, the year Russia's invasion of Crimea. Russia had been deploying the mercenaries around the group in the Middle East and the Central African Republic to conduct military operations, that they couldn't do with its own army.

The Rise of the Wagner Group

The Russian military struggled to crush the Wagner Group as they were heading torwards Moscow, because they became too powerful. Unfortunately for the Russian military, the Wagner Group is better trained, better equipped and even deadlier than them. The Wagner Group had been funded by the Kremlin, who poured in $1 billion from 2022-2023.

Russia has created laws that banned the creation of paramilitary groups. As such, the Wagner Group is built on the backs of several shell companies that operates under the umbrella of the Russian intelligence community. The Wagner Group has grown through it worldwide military operations and its recruitment campaigns. They have been backing the dictatorship of the Central African Republic government and even fought alongside the Syrian army against U.S. forces.

Operations in Ukraine

The European Union had condemned the Wagner Group for alleged human rights abuses in 2021. The European Union said that Wagner "recruited, trained and sent private military operatives to conflict zones across the globe to fuel violence."

Wagner had a key part in one of the bloodiest parts of the war in Bakhmut. One Ukraine soldier had told the BBC that the Wagner Group was leading the Russian forces in the region.

March on the Capital

Yevgeny Prigozhin publicly called Russia's military leadership evil and called for a mutiny against the state, with some of his troops marching towards Moscow. Russian military helicopters fired on Prigozhin's troops during the march towards the capital. In a matter of just 24 hours, the whole "rebellion" was done.

Prigozhin was quickly exiled to Belarus, while Russia dropped its criminal case against the Wagner Group. Russia is still investigating Prigozhin for treason.

Rivalries

Among the reasons given for the Walker Group to march on Moscow was that Putin had no justification for the war against Ukraine and had been working to deceive the global public. Prigozhin has risked his life by calling out military leaders on camera. Perhaps out of self-preservation, Prigozhin has not said anything critical against Vladimir Putin. This could be attributed to his lengthy relationship with Putin. His relationship with Putin may have kept him from being silenced and instead just simply exiled.