Augusto Manzanal Ciancaglini
Political scientist
The mercenaries of the Wagner Group have started to become more and more prominent in the media, due to their weight in the Battle of Bakhmut.
The paramilitary organisation is named after the great German composer, allegedly because its founder, Dmitry Utkin, admired the Nazis and their soundtrack.
Today, its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, appears to be the most critical of the Russian government. His relationship with Putin and his history of success in Africa, taking advantage of French weakness in his area of influence, have given him that right.
Even if one subscribes to Machiavelli’s dictum: “To hire mercenaries is a reprehensible and pernicious thing to do”, one can accept certain advantages of having private armies depending on their functions and their links to the armed forces. However, the Russian case projects the grotesque image of a bunch of henchmen led by an oligarch who embarrasses the Kremlin by skirting part of the official propaganda. To top it all off, the foolish genius that gives the group its name doesn’t help the bizarre Russian version of the Ukrainian Nazis.
In any case, the problem lies not only in the bad image given or the use of mercenaries, but in how and where they are being used; in a war that means a lot to a country that theoretically has the second most powerful army in the world.
Sergey Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister and the main target of Prigozhin’s reproaches, is only now trying to control this free verse of the invading forces.
Moscow can choose patience, resignation or all-out war, but private soldiers do not seem to play a decisive role in any theatre where the din of the overture is rapidly fading. However, in the world concert, with its cascading voice, Russia is still far from being the protagonist of past operas.
© All rights reserved
