Wagner Group responsible for torture, killings and rampant exploitation of resources in Africa

Published

2 years ago

June 27, 2023

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The Wagner Group is responsible for a raft of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Central African Republic (CAR), according to a new investigative report.

The group had been spearheading Russian attacks in parts of Ukraine before appearing to turn on the Kremlin after falling out with the Russian military over the conduct of the war.

Russia-Ukraine latest: ‘Criminal acts’ of rebels tried to split and weaken Russia, Putin says

Warning: The story below contains references to torture techniques

Washington based anti-corruption organisation The Sentry has found that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenary group has been “perfecting a nightmarish blueprint for state capture” in the CAR to enable it to plunder the country’s national resources, particularly gold and diamonds.

Over the past five years, soldiers and militiamen have reportedly undergone Wagner training that has involved “ultraviolent” techniques of torture and killing, including how to cut fingers and legs, remove nails, strangle, throw fuel and burn people alive.

In close cooperation with CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, the Wagner Group has significant control over the nation’s political and military leadership, as well as huge sway over its economy.

The report also found that part of Wagner’s training involved “sweeping” or “cleansing” which sources in the Central African military said meant killing everyone, including women and children.

One military source explained: “We kill villagers only, we bury them, or we throw them in the bush.”

A member of the presidential guard discussing the training he received said: “It was a Russian instructor who gave the training … it included commando training, interrogation, aggressive techniques, torture, violence.”

The training can last anywhere between one and six months and involves firearms training, hand-to-hand combat, and espionage, interrogation, and torture techniques, according to the report.

Taking advantage of President Touadera’s ever-increasing need for security and protection, Wagner has tightened its grip on the CAR’s economic resources and constructed a transnational network of shadowy companies and operations stretching from Madagascar, Cameroon, and Sudan all the way back to Moscow.

While Wagner commanders and President Touadéra have justified the group’s presence as a means to hunt down armed rebel groups to protect the regime, The Sentry found that Wagner has taken command and control of government armed forces.

It has then gone on to order them to execute “cleansing” campaigns to massacre entire communities that might get in the way of the group’s extraction operations.

Soldiers involved in these activities said that Wagner’s intention is to create terror and instil fear, not only among rebels but across the population at large and even among the soldiers and militiamen under its control.

When the group first arrived in early 2018, the CAR had undergone decades of deadly crises that the UN and Western countries had failed to adequately address.

Analysis: Wagner in Africa

In the moments that followed Prighozhin’s protest march, the question of Wagner’s fate in Africa was urgently raised.

The answer came from the dealmaker himself – not Prigozhin, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

“In addition to relations with this PMC (private military company), the governments of CAR (Central African Republic) and Mali have official contacts with our leadership. At their request, several hundred soldiers are working in CAR as instructors,” he told Russia Today in a TV interview.

“This work will continue.”

The Sentry report details a meeting between Mr Lavrov and a Central African delegation in the Black Sea resort Sochi, Russia in October 2017. Three subjects were on the agenda – security assistance, political support and mining operations.

Shortly after the meeting, the decision was made to send “Russian civilian instructors” to CAR – a euphemism for Wagner mercenaries used by Russian and Central African authorities.

In 2018, Lavrov finalised the deal for Wagner to enter Mali and support its army in the fight against Islamist insurgents, dismissing a French-led anti-insurgent military operation as “a colonial hangover”.

And now as Wagner’s future looks shaky, it is African partnerships with Russia that remain firm, at the very least in CAR, the prototype for the Kremlin’s African expansion.

Fidele Gouandjika, a close aide to the President of CAR, makes this clear.

“In 2018, CAR signed a defence agreement with Russia and not with Wagner. If Russia has no agreement anymore with Wagner, it will send us a new contingent.”

Wagner took advantage of this and has, in just few years and with relatively few personnel, become one of the most powerful forces in the CAR.

Its activities in the CAR are just one aspect of the private army’s operations on the continent, which span numerous countries across Africa including Libya, Sudan, Mali, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Burkina Faso.

Further afield they are also known to have an extensive presence in Syria.

Mining companies affiliated with Wagner, primarily Lobaye Invest, Midas Ressources, and Diamville, have been granted mining licences and export authorisations, allowing the group to use its transnational networks across Africa to help set up industrial-scale gold production, according to the report.

It is also believed that Russia delivered heavy military equipment that had not previously appeared in the CAR conflict, including combat helicopters, aircraft, ground vehicles, reconnaissance drones, and heavy weapons including 14.5 mm heavy machine guns.

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The report even alleges that Wagner has been using landmines in CAR.

The UN Panel of Experts on CAR noted that “deliveries of materiel in support of state security forces were observed at a pace unprecedented since the establishment of the arms embargo in 2013.”

Nathalia Dukhan, Senior Investigator and head of the Wagner programme at The Sentry, said: “The Central African Republic has become Wagner Group’s laboratory of terror.

“With a limited number of military personnel and the active support of President Touadéra, Wagner has managed in just five years to infiltrate and control CAR’s military chain of command, as well as the country’s political and economic systems.

“Russia has revealed its plan for psychological warfare and domination – a truly new kind of ultraviolent colonialism.

“Without urgent and coordinated global action to counter this threat, Wagner’s predatory terrorist network will continue to spread and sow devastation wherever it takes root.”

The report urges the US, UK, EU, Canada, Japan and other nations and jurisdictions to widen the scope of sanctions against the group and declare Wagner a terrorist organisation.

The Sentry is an investigative and policy organisation that says it seeks to “disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression, and kleptocracy”.

World

Ukraine: How powerful are the Storm Shadow missiles donated by Britain?

Published

8 hours ago

October 22, 2025

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Ukraine: How powerful are the Storm Shadow missiles donated by Britain?

Storm Shadow cruise missiles made in the UK and donated to Ukraine have once again been used to strike targets inside Russia.

The long-range weapons – which cost roughly £2m each – have been used to devastating effect in the Black Sea, sinking or damaging several Russian ships, and now against a chemical plant.

Last year, Ukraine’s allies lifted restrictions on Storm Shadows and other long-range missiles, meaning Kyiv’s military can use them against targets across the border.

Follow latest: Storm Shadow missiles used in ‘massive’ attack on Russia

What are Storm Shadow missiles?

Storm Shadows are cruise missiles developed by the UK and France in the 1990s.

Launched from aircraft, they have a range more than 155 miles, manufacturer MBDA says, and can travel at speeds exceeding 600mph.

The missiles can be used with high precision for deep strikes while evading detection, the manufacturer says.

They have been used by the RAF and French air force and in the Gulf, Iraq and Libya, and more recently have been used by Ukrainian forces.

What sets them apart from some other projectiles is they use terrain mapping to navigate to their target, rather than relying just on GPS, military analyst Sean Bell says.

How have they been used in Ukraine?

Back in May 2023, the UK government announced it would provide Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles – the first country to do so.

Since then they have been used by Kyiv’s defenders to strike Russian targets inside Ukraine and also inside Russia.

While operational details of their use do not always emerge, it has been reported Storm Shadows have been used against targets including military headquarters and ships.

Storm Shadows can likely be operated entirely from within Ukraine, though probably with the assistance of intelligence gathered by Western surveillance planes over international waters.

World

Police helicopter targeted with lasers by ‘mob intent on violence’ in Dublin

Published

17 hours ago

October 22, 2025

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Police helicopter targeted with lasers by 'mob intent on violence' in Dublin

A police officer has been injured after a night of violent protests outside an asylum hotel in Dublin – with six arrests made.

Bricks were thrown and fireworks were discharged outside the Citywest Hotel – with glass bottles used as missiles and a police van set on fire.

A Garda helicopter was also targeted with lasers, and the police service says some of those on the streets were seen carrying garden forks.

Commissioner Justin Kelly added: “This was obviously not a peaceful protest. The actions this evening can only be described as thuggery. This was a mob intent on violence.

“We will now begin the process of identifying those who committed crimes and we will bring those involved in this violence to justice.”

It is the second night of demonstrations after an alleged sexual assault in its vicinity in the early hours of Monday morning.

Some of the crowd threw stones and other missiles at the public order officers as they moved the protesters back – and water cannon was deployed at the scene.

A line of officers was preventing the protesters from approaching the hotel.

This protest felt different

There had been a small protest on Monday outside the former Citywest Hotel, now an asylum centre, but last night’s felt very different.

The 26-year-old man who allegedly attacked the young girl had appeared in court yesterday morning, charged with sexual assault. He can’t be named but an Arabic translator was requested. Anger grew online, and another protest was called.

It’s hard to get a clear estimate of numbers, partly due to the street geography around the former hotel, but it’s thought up to 2,000 attended. Most were peaceful, some were not. After a Garda van was torched, a major policing operation began.

The smell of fireworks hung in the air as youths hurled missiles at the Gardai. A Garda water cannon truck was deployed for the first time in the Republic of Ireland, parked visibly behind the riot officers.

I spoke to local residents who had reasonable concerns about the influx of asylum seekers to the community in recent years. Most did not approve of violent protest, but they articulated the anger and pain felt by many here after the attack on the young girl.

Although it has not been confirmed officially that the accused is an asylum seeker, most of the local residents had the same message: the enemy is not necessarily those who come to Ireland, rather it’s the perceived open-doors policy of the Irish government.

‘Those involved will be brought to justice’

Ireland’s premier, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, paid tribute to the officers who were on the frontline of the protests.

“There can be no justification for the vile abuse against them, or the attempted assaults and attacks on members of the force that will shock all right-thinking people,” he said.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said those involved in the violence will be brought to justice.

“The scenes of public disorder we have witnessed at Citywest must be condemned,” he said.

“People threw missiles at Gardai, threw fireworks at them and set a Garda vehicle on fire.

“This is unacceptable and will result in a forceful response from the Gardai.

“Those involved will be brought to justice.”

‘No excuse’ for violence

The minister said a man had been arrested and had appeared in court in relation to the alleged assault in the vicinity of the hotel.

He added: “While I am not in a position to comment any further on this criminal investigation, I have been advised that there is no ongoing threat to public safety in the area.”

He said attacks on officers would “not be tolerated”, adding: “Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. Violence is not.

“There is no excuse for the scenes we have witnessed.”

The demonstration on Monday night passed without a significant incident.

It comes two years after anti-immigrant demonstrators triggered a major riot in the centre of Dublin after three young children were stabbed.

World

Violent protests at Dublin hotel housing asylum seekers after alleged sexual assault

Published

21 hours ago

October 21, 2025

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Violent protests at Dublin hotel housing asylum seekers after alleged sexual assault

A police van has been set on fire and missiles have been thrown at officers as protesters gathered outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Dublin.

It is the second night of demonstrations outside the Citywest Hotel after an alleged sexual assault in its vicinity in the early hours of Monday morning.

A large crowd has gathered in the area and members of the Garda’s public order unit have been deployed.

Footage from the scene showed a Garda vehicle on fire as well as several protesters displaying Irish flags.

Some of the crowd threw stones and other missiles at the public order officers as they moved the protesters back.

A Garda helicopter hovered overhead and a water cannon was deployed on the scene.

Ireland’s justice minister, Jim O’Callaghan, said those involved will be brought to justice.

“The scenes of public disorder we have witnessed at Citywest tonight must be condemned,” he said.

“People threw missiles at Gardai, threw fireworks at them and set a Garda vehicle on fire.

“This is unacceptable and will result in a forceful response from the Gardai.

“Those involved will be brought to justice.”

The minister said a man had been arrested and had appeared in court in relation to the alleged assault in the vicinity of the hotel.

He added: “While I am not in a position to comment any further on this criminal investigation, I have been advised that there is no ongoing threat to public safety in the area.

He said attacks on gardai will “not be tolerated”, adding: “Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. Violence is not.

“There is no excuse for the scenes we have witnessed tonight.”

It was the second night of protest outside the hotel, which is being used as state accommodation for people seeking international protection. The demonstration on Monday night passed without a significant incident.

It comes two years after anti-immigrant demonstrators triggered a major riot in the centre of Dublin after three young children were stabbed.

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