The world for the past year has witnessed major developments in international affairs. One of the major reasons behind this, is the Military Operation by Russia in Ukraine. On 24th February, 2022, Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine which escalated into the Russo-Ukrainian war. And the most recent development in this war was the ‘March of Justice’ by the Wagner Group.
The group, founded back in 2014 by the former GRU officer Dmitry Utkin, had been in recent news due to its rebellion against the Russian Army especially the Russian Ministry of Defence. The Wagner Group came to prominence in the year 2014-15 when it helped the pro-Russian separatist forces during Russian tensions with Ukraine. The Wagner Group is a state-funded organisation who are meant to back and support the Russian Military and the Government. The group works for the Russian interest and gets its training and equipment from the Russian Ministry of Defence. Such groups are usually also referred to as Private Military Companies [PMC’s].
The Wagner Group for the past few years have not only been active in Russia and Ukraine but has also had its influence in countries like Syria, Libya, Mali, Sudan, and Mozambique where it has worked in favour of Russian interests. The group which was working secretly in the past, opened its headquarters in St. Petersburg, Russia. Following this, the group started working actively and openly in the region under the leadership of Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The Wagner Group came to the limelight after the escalation of Russo-Ukrainian war. According to the claims made by the United States of America and the United Kingdom, the Wagner Group has been actively involved in the Russo-Ukrainian War and has many of its soldiers stationed in Ukraine.
But there was a complete reversal in the Wagner Group’s policies, which started on 23rd June, 2023, when Yevgeny Prigozhin blamed the Russian Army of killing thousands of his soldiers. The first attack by the Wagner group came on the Russian Military facility in the country’s southern region. According to Prigozhin, this was a March of Justice to punish the ones who attacked his group members and wanted a justice for his troops and justice for all of Russia.
There are many causes for this mutiny against the government. The Russian Government in June, last year, allowed Yevgeny Prigozhin to go to Russian jails and recruit prisoners for his group who could fight in the war. According to the Russian authorities, this would have increased Russia’s military strength in Ukraine and catapult them to achieve their motive.
The objectives set out for the Wagner Group by the Russian Ministry of Defence were not met and this created a sense of distrust towards the Group. This increased after the appointment of General Gerasimov as Chief of Staff of Russian Military Forces as he was not in favour of the Wagner Group. After this, Yevgeny Prigozhin openly started to criticise the Russian Defence military with allegations of lack of supply of ammunition to the Wagner Group. The tensions between the Wagner Group and the Russian Leadership increased to such an extent that they launched a march against the Russian Government.
But the rebellion was stopped by the Wagner Group within 24 hours of its launch. The Wagner Group and the Russian Leadership agreed to a deal according to which the Wagner group was to stop their march towards Kremlin and, in return, none of their soldiers would be prosecuted. President Putin then offered the Wagner Group to join the Russian Military. Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, who is a close and trusted ally of Russia, played a crucial role in brokering this deal. He facilitated the negotiations between both parties. According to some sources, Yevgeny Prigozhin has been moved to Belarus and has asked his troops to return to the base camp.
These series of events have birthed many questions across the global political forum on President Putin’s power and his control over Russia. Many experts claim a significant drop in his credibility, which shows signs of an upcoming political turbulence in Russia. Whereas others believe that handling and curbing this issue without much violent progression could increase Putin’s popularity helping him in the next election. These series of events will have a major global geopolitical impact which will come to the forefront in the upcoming months.
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