At the peak of his energy, Yevgeny Prigozhin managed the multibillion-dollar Wagner organisation and was probably the most feared and highly effective mercenaries on this planet.
However, following an abortive coup towards Vladimir Putin in June final 12 months, he was shortly exiled and died months later in a aircraft crash.
Despite his loss of life, the Wagner Group has continued to flourish, and army analyst Sean Bell has mentioned it now poses a brand new risk to Western pursuits.
In the latest episode of the Red Matrix podcast, Bell explored the rising function of Russia’s mercenary business in Africa, and the implications for the West.
He mentioned Wagner has developed into an “overt instrument of overseas coverage for Russia” and it now affords a “regime survival bundle” to keen clients in return for access to mineral reserves reminiscent of gold or diamonds.
“Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali have all skilled army coups not too long ago however this may often be a transitional state earlier than a return to some type of democratic rule,” he mentioned.
“However, by leveraging the assist offered by Wagner, army regimes can turn out to be semi-permanent, to mutual profit.”
So why does this matter to the West?
Bell defined that Western nations have turn out to be more and more depending on a variety of minerals – reminiscent of lithium – which are sometimes sourced from African mines.
If Russia controls these mines via Wagner, then it makes the West vulnerable to “power blackmail”, he mentioned.
“President Putin has already leveraged the west’s dependency on Russian oil and gasoline to set off a cost of dwelling disaster, so funding mercenary teams to assist regimes in return for mineral rights creates a really actual long-term risk to western pursuits.”
You can watch the Red Matrix podcast right here.
