Russian President Vladimir Putin’s private army, also called the Wagner group has opened its first official headquarters in the city of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Yevgeny Prigozhin, the man who founded the ‘mercenary’ group said that the headquarters will serve in generating ‘new ideas’ for Russia’s defence capabilities.
“The mission of the PMC Wagner Center is to provide a comfortable environment for generating new ideas to improve Russia’s defence capability.”
According to reports, the multistorey building topped with a big ‘Wagner’ sign is expected to provide some credibility to the organisation which has been accused of working in the shadows to do Putin’s dirty work, within the country and abroad.
As reported by WION, the Wagner group is alleged to be responsible for at least some of the 13 civilian deaths in conflict-torn Mali, earlier this week.
Moreover, if reports coming from the UK’s ministry of defence are to be believed, Moscow is recruiting Russian prisoners that are suffering from infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C into the Wagner group.
The report added that role of Putin’s private militia had evolved ever since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out. Earlier, the group only hired professional Russian soldiers
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“The role of Wagner Group has evolved significantly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In previous conflicts, it maintained relatively high recruitment standards, with many of its operators having previously served as professional Russian soldiers,” read the report.
It added that the recruitment of prisoners with serious medical concerns, “highlights an approach which now prioritises numbers over experience or quality.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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