Wagner Group
The Coup That Shook the Sahel
Last year’s military coup in Niger changed the country’s trajectory and rocked African geopolitics. After 60 years as a strategic Western partner, political and economic alliances were shattered in a week, and now the newly installed junta has found a friend in Russia.
Pro-Russian Mercenaries Sued
Mhesn Alabdullah’s cousin Hamadi Bouta, a Syrian army deserter, was savagely beaten to death and mutilated on camera by soldiers of the notorious Wagner Group in eastern Syria in 2017. Now his family wants justice.
The Fallen Mercenaries in Russia’s Dark Army
"No one can build anything on blood. Blood has never been a foundation for any construction. On the contrary, it turns into a swamp in which you drown. Why fight for strangers and kill for strangers?"
A Libyan Revenant
For one militia commander, a battlefield defeat was payback to the aspiring Libyan strongman Gen. Khalifa Haftar. But it also illustrates in stark clarity how the Middle East’s proxy wars and ideological rivalries have spilled across borders, ensnaring both the innocent and not so innocent.
The Soviet Origins of Putin’s Mercenaries
Where did the notorious Wagner Group come from, and why has Vladimir Putin relied so heavily on Russian mercenaries in the last decade? Ruslan Trad argues it’s because they’re good for business, and they have a proven track record — from Soviet-occupied Afghanistan.