The Russian Wagner militia: “a formidable adversary”

BETTING À DAY

The group of Russian mercenaries Wagner, deployed in several African countries and on the front in Ukraine, is “a formidable adversary” and a model that will “develop”, estimated the Chief of Staff of the French Army.

“Let's look at the Wagner militia, the demonstration they are making,” observed General Pierre Schill on Monday during a meeting with the Association of Defense journalists (AJD).

“They send us a message telling us (that) when we have to face these militias elsewhere, they are able to pay very expensive blood money to achieve their objectives and they will be a formidable opponent,” he said. it added.

Wagner has established itself in recent months as a major auxiliary to the Russian army in Ukraine, particularly on the front line in the battle of Bakhmout (east). On Sunday, its leader Evguéni Prigojine claimed to have taken the town of Krasna Hora, a few kilometers north of this large city in the Donetsk region.

“A year ago, I insisted on the hybrid war, around the threshold of conflict (…), the influence of the message sent (…). Wagner and this type of tools used by the Russians, it is exactly a tool of this threshold, which will necessarily develop, ”insisted General Schill.

“Are all private military companies equal or will they be equal? Probably not, there is a degree of state support behind it,” he said, referring to the very strong ties between Yevgeny Prigojine and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Wagner, because he is fighting to get his place in the Kremlin one way or another, paying a huge price, asking us questions and telling us that he is a formidable opponent,” he said.

According to him, the Russian invasion in Ukraine almost a year ago has not finished delivering its geostrategic consequences.

“We are probably at a change of era of the same magnitude as that of the fall of the Berlin Wall”, he said, referring to changes “which took several years to materialize and marked three decades”.

“We we have seen the use of force by a number of states increase,” he noted, referring to China and Iran. “There is a questioning of international law as it has been crystallized since the Second World War. A certain number of countries tell us: your right is contingent, Western, we dispute it”.