What is the Wagner Group, Russia’s mercenary organisation?
Supposedly active in Ukraine, it has been accused of human-rights abuses and has ties to the Kremlin
![DONETSK FRONTLINE ALEXANDROVKA, DONETSK, DONETSK PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC, UKRAINE - 2017/12/11: A detail shot of a gun of a soldier on the frontline of Donetsk People's Republic.The War in Donbass region of eastern Ukraine has caused at least 10,000 deaths and resulted in 1.4 million people being displaced from their homes since the start of the conflict in March 2014. (Photo by Martin Trabalik/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20220312_BLP501.jpg)
RUSSIA MASSED around 190,000 troops on Ukraine’s border before it invaded. But there may be other, more shadowy Russian forces fighting there. According to a report in the Times on February 28th, more than 400 mercenaries belonging to Russia’s Wagner Group have been sent to Kyiv to assassinate Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president. American officials say they have seen some indication of Wagner’s involvement in the war. Those reports have not been confirmed, but Wagner’s presence would not be a surprise. For years Ukraine has accused the private military organisation, which appears to have close ties to the Kremlin, of fighting in Luhansk and Donetsk, the disputed parts of eastern Ukraine. The mercenaries, who have also reportedly fought in both northern and sub-Saharan Africa, have been accused of torture, rape and extrajudicial killings. What is the Wagner Group, and how is it linked to the Russian state?
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