Russian mercenary and the head of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin has released his first video promoting his militia’s recruitment.
He appearing in a clip – possibly shot in Africa – on Telegram channels affiliated with the Wagner group on Monday. This occurs at a time when the Niger coup is causing a lot of unrest throughout West Africa.
With a stunning, short-lived rebellion in Russia in June that confronted Vladimir Putin with the gravest threat to his 23-year-rule, Prigozhin shot to international prominence. The founder of Wagner long reaped the rewards of Putin’s shrewd support, even when he established a private army to defend Russian interests overseas and take part in some of the bloodiest engagements of the conflict in Ukraine.
The person who looks to be the 62-year-old mercenary leader can be seen in the footage from Monday standing in a desert region while wearing camouflage and holding a rifle. There are more armed men and a pickup truck in the distance.
He claims that the Wagner group is engaged in reconnaissance and search operations while “making Russia even greater on all continents, and Africa even more free”. Wagner is hiring people, he continues, and the team “will complete the assigned tasks.”
Prigozhin, a mercenary leader, was reportedly recruiting troops to work in Africa and urging Russian investors to invest in the Central African Republic through Russian House, a cultural center in the capital of the African country.
One of the nations where Wagner’s hired soldiers have operated and been charged with violating human rights is the Central African Republic. Since 2014, the Wagner group has been a vehicle utilized by the Kremlin to increase Russia’s influence in the Middle East and Africa.
Since Prigozhin staged a brief rebellion against the Russian defense establishment in late June, the future of Wagner and Prigozhin has been uncertain.
Prigozhin agreed to put an end to his uprising in exchange for amnesty for him and his men and freedom to move to Belarus under a deal mediated by Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko. As part of measures by Russian authorities to neutralize the threat presented by the mercenaries, Wagner gave over its weaponry to the Russian military before heading to Belarus.