Wagner’s Russian Mercenaries “are effective in their registry and uninhibited, even lawless”, estimates the Chief of Staff of the Armies (CEMA), General Thierry Burkhard, on February 16, questioned by the deputies about the cohabitation in Mali of the French army with Wagner. A report that was only published on April 20. That is more than two months later. Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine has become a crime in Europe. So why write an article two months after comments in another world by General Thierry Burkhard? Because he is the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and his words weigh and count when he summons an entity as sulfurous as Wagner can be, most likely present in Ukraine. General Burkhard in particular officially confirms what everyone thinks about this mercenary company “connected clearly connected to the Russian state”†
“Who Directs” Wagner † The group is clearly linked to the Russian state, but I’m not sure if it is directly controlled, the army chief of staff estimates. On the one hand because it would be complicated, on the other because it would be less flexible for them. I think Wagner has great guidelines in terms of operations, of the effect to be produced, of strategy. On this last point, if France wants to be a power of balance, Russia wants to be a power of nuisance; it has the capabilities and works in long-term strategies”.
According to CEMA, Wagner “is not directly, at least not permanently, subsidized by the Russian state – which is not particularly distinguished by the strength of its economy”† He believes, however, “The weakness of Wagner is that he is primarily a business model: when Wagner gets involved in an area that corresponds to the area of Russian interest and influence, he has to find something to finance himself, and I think that is what we should try to break”† He also points out that Wagner’s boss EuGen Prigozhin, nicknamed Vladimir Putin’s cook, †is not a soldier but a good business manager – or a good mafioso, as one wants”†
ambiguity
Asked by LR MP for Loiret Marianne Dubois, about possible clashes between French soldiers and Wagner in Mali, or in other countries Africans, General Thierry Burkhard recalled that: †regarding the employment of the mercenary by the Russians Wagner until Mali, the ambiguity is constant. Russian soldiers are present in Mali, and both Russia and Mali say it is a bilateral partnership. This doesn’t mislead you or me, but the reality is that on the ground it’s hard to distinguish things with certainty with wagner”† Especially since Algeria, close to Moscow, had forbidden the French army to fly over its territory, but allowed Wagner’s.
On “the hypothesis of interactions between the Wagner and Barkhane forces, I I have been ordered to release Barkhane to safety and I have taken the measures to do so as best I can possible, the general explained. However, this does not mean that there can be no losses: it is war, and we have people ahead of us pursuing their own goals. we will do anything to prevent that. Very strict instructions have been given in this area.
“Without Faith or Law”† The Wagner group is said to have been involved in a massacre in early April that reportedly killed hundreds of civilians in a central Mali village in Moura. According to Reuters, some accounts suggest they were killed by Malian army soldiers with the group’s support. Wagner† For the Human Rights Watch (HRW) organization, it’s the “worst atrocity reported in Mali’s decade-long armed conflict”† In addition, Wagner’s human rights violations have been criticized by the UN in the Central African Republic. Finally, according to youn senior European official, between them would be: “10 to 20,000” Wagner’s mercenaries or Syrian and Libyan fighters fought alongside Russian troops. He states that he has observed “transfers, from areas such as Syria and Libya, to the eastern region of Donbass”†
