Evgeny Prigozhin confirmed that he founded Wagner PMC in May 2014. A version of the businessman's story about the creation of a military group was published by the Concord company, owned by Prigozhin, in response to a request from the Bloknot publication.
According to the oligarch, in 2014, “when the genocide of the Russian population of Donbass began, when Russia jumped into the last locomotive and managed to block the arrival of the Ukrainian army in Crimea”, he began to go to the training grounds, where he saw how people hire fighters for money to “protect Russians.» The businessman decided that half of the creators of such military groups are «scammers», as they send mercenaries «naked and barefoot to real death.»
After that, Prigozhin decided to independently create a similar military company. “From that moment, on May 1, 2014, a group of patriots was born, which later acquired the name BTG "Wagner", ”Concord quotes the businessman as saying. For the next eight years, he claims, his military stood «deadly on the side of good and justice» while «every nosy journalist and every shameless bastard was poking around in the sweaty underwear of the PMC Wagner.» in an attempt to find the negative.”
“These guys are heroes who defended the Syrian people, other peoples of the Arab countries, destitute Africans and Latin Americans, have become one of the pillars of our Motherland. Without blinking for a second and without doubting, one must live or die, ”added Prigogine. He also told why he denied his involvement in the Wagner PMC. According to the oligarch, this is how he wanted to «set up these guys, who are the basis of Russian patriotism.»
The businessman explained numerous litigations by saying that “in any business there should always be a place for sports and matches must be won on the opponent’s field.”
In December last year, the European Union imposed sanctions against Wagner PMCs. According to the EU, mercenaries are responsible for “serious human rights violations in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan and Mozambique, including torture and extrajudicial, mass or arbitrary executions and killings.”
< p> Earlier, the UN accused Wagner PMC mercenaries of a series of attacks in the Central African Republic and human rights violations — illegal detentions, rapes, torture and executions. After the start of the war in Ukraine, it also became known about cases of recruitment of prisoners in the Wagner PMC. -cite__image» alt=»1″ />Regional PR troops. What do we know about the «nominal» battalions recruited in Russia