President of Russia Vladimir Putin, in an interview with journalist Dmitry Kiselev for “Rossiya 1” and RIA Novosti, revealed that the Ministry of Defense provided support to the private military company (PMC) “Wagner,” but only as a Russian group and nothing more.
According to Putin, “Wagner” initially carried out several economic projects in Syria, and then the group moved to other African countries. The Ministry of Defense provided support to them only as a group from Russia.
Previously, Vladimir Putin stated that there were no private military companies in the country, “did not exist and do not exist.” According to the Russian leader, the name “Wagner” PMC is only a journalistic term, and there was no legal structure like that. He noted that there is still no consensus on whether such formations as private military companies are necessary.
In January, it was reported that former “Wagner” fighters would join the Russian “African Corps,” which is being formed under the auspices of the Ministry of Defense of Russia. According to Bloomberg, they will be deployed in Burkina Faso, Libya, Mali, the Central African Republic, and Niger. The corps will also include newcomers. It is noted that it will take on missions previously carried out by the Wagner PMC.
Earlier, it became known that a monument to Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin is planned to be installed on the territory of the Wagner PMC chapel in the city of Goryachy Klyuch in the Krasnodar Krai.
