Wagner Group

Graduate Institute What Matters Today

More and more private military companies are replacing soldiers on battlefields these days. We have seen this before, with Blackwater in Iraq, and are seeing this again with the Wagner Group being used in the Russia-Ukraine war. In addition to Ukraine, the group has significantly increased its activities in recent years in Syria, Libya, Sudan, Central African Republic, Mozambique and Mali among other countries. In some of these countries, the Wagner Group has been accused of human rights violations. In fact, last month, the French parliament designated the Wagner Group as a terrorist entity and called on the EU to do the same. In this episode of What Matters Today, we focus on questions such as the current status of the Wagner group, its ties with Russia, and who is controlling the group’s actions. Our guest today is Dr Annyssa Bellal, Senior Researcher at the Geneva Graduate Institute's Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding; Executive Director of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform; and Visiting Professor at the Institute. Intro Credits: FRANCE 24 English