2023-08-24 20:48:31
Besides Yevgeny Prigozhin, the latter’s right-hand man, Dmitri Utkin, was also among the victims of the August 23 plane crash. It was he who gave his code name to the group, chosen, it is said, because of his admiration for the Third Reich, whose emblems he wears, tattooed on his chest. Composer Richard Wagner was considered Aldolf Hitler’s favorite musician.
Former special forces of the GRU, the Russian military intelligence service, Utkin operated in Syria, then in Ukraine, before taking military command from Wagner. He would have himself supervised the counter-offensive against the rebels in the Central African Republic at the beginning of 2021, if we are to believe the film Touristproduced by Wagner, although no document proves it yet.
Read alsoWagner’s number two, Dmitry Utkin, a well-known mercenary in Libya
Another passenger on board the plane: Valery Chekalov, a key figure in the Prigozhin system. He ran the Evropolis company, which signed a contract with the Syrian government for the protection of its oil fields. He would also have had to manage the supply of weapons to Damascus. Valery Chekalov would be the “ Grand Logistician and Principal Administrator of the paramilitary group, according to Lou Osborn, of the All Eyes on Wagner collective.
Aleksandr Totmin, registration number M-5534, would have served in Sudan, where the group has been exploiting gold resources since 2017, in exchange for arms contracts. Finally, Evgueni Makaryan, a member of Wagner since 2016, operated in Central African Republic before being injured in Libya, according to American researcher Jack Margolin.
Despite these disappearances of important figures from the staff of Wagner, the group can survive and continue its activities in Africa, but certainly in a different way. He will have to compose without the thundering personality of Prigojine, who was personally involved in operations, did not hesitate to show himself in the field and to meet his clients. One of the last images of him is also a photo where he appears with the chief of protocol of the Central African president at the Africa-Russia Summit in St. Petersburg.
Wagner will also have to do without the financial super-structure built over the years by Prigojine around himself, and which has become essential to the functioning of Wagner. Nevertheless, activities in Africa should a priori continue. ” The stakes are too high and there are contracts to honor “, according to the group’s specialist researcher John Lechner. Wagner knew how to make himself indispensable, both to the African regimes he protects and to the Kremlin, whose influence he ensures on the continent.
The hypothesis that seems to be emerging, according to the researchers, is that of a takeover by the Russian state, perhaps through other private military companies, linked to the Ministry of Defense and the GRU. But none has, for the moment, the skills and knowledge of the terrain necessary to replace Wagner. However, even if Prigojine and his men seem difficult to replace, ” his death does not change Russian ambitions in Africa “says Lou Osborn.
Read alsoEvgueni Prigojine, sulphurous boss of Wagner and craftsman of Russian influence in Africa
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