IndiaTheNews Exclusive: What are the other armed groups like Wagner Group which have been creating ruckus in the world?

In IndiaTheNews News Network’s special program Shaurya Path, we wanted to know from Brigadier DS Tripathi (Retd) ji, how do you see the rebellion of Wagner Group? What are the other armed groups that have rebelled from time to time in different countries of the world? How will what Wagner did affect the Russia-Ukraine war? Wagner Group has established its base in Belarus, due to which the concern of the Baltic countries has increased. There is also news that the President of Belarus has criticized the Russian President. Also, what is the current status of the Russia-Ukraine war? Along with this, a report of the United Nations has come in which it has been said that Russia tortured and killed common people. Not only this, it was said about Ukraine that it misbehaved with the people taken into custody. How do you see all this?

In response to this, he said that there are many armed groups like Wagner Group which are used by the governments of different countries of the world from time to time. Prominent among these are Ancient Greece, American Militias, Irish Republican Army, Mahdi Army, Basij Militia, Janjawid of Sudan and Maritime Militia of China. As for the Wagner Group, it was a tried-and-true military group for Putin because it helped him in Crimea, helped in the Russian occupation of many areas in Ukraine. Not only this, Wagner Group has given its military services in some countries including Syria and Iraq.

Brigadier Shri DS Tripathi (Retd) said that within just 36 hours, the challenge against the Kremlin by Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the private military company Wagner Group, was over as far as its recent strained relations with Russia were concerned. Prigozhin ordered his 25,000 soldiers to embark on a “march for justice”, marching to Moscow to confront the Russian president. They closed it the next afternoon. At that point his troops had advanced more than halfway along the M4 motorway between Moscow and the Russian Army’s southern headquarters in Rostov-on-Don. His personal army was within 200 km (125 mi) of the Russian capital. The crisis was apparently averted due to a deal mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and ratified by the Kremlin. But this brief episode of upheaval would have a lasting impact on the war in Russia and Ukraine.

He said that Prigozhin and the top officers of the Russian army have been at loggerheads for some time. But it escalated as the fighting at Bakhmut intensified, during which Prigozhin complained that more than 20,000 of his men were killed. In May, Prigozhin warned of another Russian revolution. He tried to fulfill this promise four weeks later. But it was very different from the mass uprising of the October Revolution of 1917. Instead, it was ultimately a confrontation between competing factions of the Russian military-industrial complex. However, if there is a commonality, it is that the foreign wars were part of the backdrop against which both the Bolshevik Revolution and Prigozhin’s attempt at power took place. The alleged cause of Prigozhin’s mutiny was an apparent air raid by Russian forces on his camp on the front in Ukraine. The airstrike itself, if it did indeed happen, is a sign that the Kremlin knew something was happening. But the speed and precision with which Prigozhin moved his troops over great distances and to strategic locations—including Rostov-on-Don—indicates that this was a well-prepared operation. It may have failed, but it also holds lessons for any future challenger to the Kremlin.

Brigadier Shri DS Tripathi ji (Retd) said that at present Putin has other problems to consider and pay attention to. The Russian president’s speech was extremely aggressive, in which he vowed to crush anyone who perpetrated an “armed rebellion”. Within 12 hours, they reached a settlement whereby, for the time being, Prigozhin or any of his mercenaries would not be punished. Furthermore, Putin stood by his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, and chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, during his rivalry with Prigozhin. But now there are indications that both of these can be changed. Shoigu is likely to be replaced by Alexey Dyumin, who led the operation that resulted in the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. He currently serves as the regional governor of Tula.

Brigadier Mr. DS Tripathi (Retd) said that whatever happened in the recent past does not create the image of Putin as a strong leader in the country or abroad. In addition, the fact that Prigozhin’s mercenaries got so close to Moscow without encountering any resistance on the ground and that Putin had to deal with them is significant. It says something about the limits of Russia’s ability to respond to the crisis and deploy military and security resources beyond the war in Ukraine. The lack of resistance to Prigozhin and the apparent popular support Wagner received in Rostov-on-Don also points to a lack of enthusiasm for the war in Ukraine among the regional elite and those outside the Kremlin. It also raises the question of how ordinary people might feel about a regime change in which the choice is between Putin and Prigozhin. The exposure of these vulnerabilities will also be worrying for Russia’s few remaining allies. The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was one of the first foreign leaders to speak with Putin following his televised address.