FT: Wagner Group recruiters shift focus to organised sabotage in Europe
Western intelligence has reported that recruiters and propagandists formerly working for the Russian private military company Wagner have become a key channel for Kremlin-backed sabotage operations in Europe.
Source: European Pravda, citing Financial Times
Details: The operational status of Wagner has remained unclear since June 2023, when a failed rebellion against Russia's military leadership led to reprisals and the death of its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.
However, Wagner recruiters, previously tasked with convincing young men from rural Russia to fight in Ukraine, have now reportedly been directed to recruit economically vulnerable Europeans to conduct acts of violence on NATO territory.
One western intelligence official said that Russian military intelligence "is using the talent it has got available to it", referring to the Wagner network.
Russian intelligence has become highly active in seeking "disposable" agents in Europe to spread chaos.
Moscow has expanded a campaign of destabilisation and sabotage across Europe over the past two years, aimed at undermining Western resolve in supporting Ukraine and creating social unrest.
Facing a decline in covert operatives in Europe following multiple diplomatic expulsions from EU capitals, Russian intelligence is increasingly relying on intermediaries to achieve its goals.
Influential European intelligence sources told the FT that Wagner's network has proven particularly effective – albeit crude – for this purpose.
Agents receive instructions from Wagner operatives on a wide range of tasks, from setting fire to politicians' cars and warehouses storing humanitarian aid for Ukraine to posing as Nazi propagandists.
Recruited individuals are often motivated by money and tend to be marginalised, sometimes lacking direction or purpose.
One European official said that Wagner had a ready-made network of propagandists and recruiters who "speak their language".
Russian intelligence (GRU) typically ensures at least two "cut-out" layers between themselves and the agents they recruit. "They want some degree of deniability always… And Wagner and the individuals that were part of it… have a long and close relationship working for the GRU in this way," the official added.
Meanwhile, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) generally relies on criminal networks and diaspora communities in neighbouring countries, but these are less effective at mass recruitment.
Wagner and its supporters already had a strong online presence targeting Russians, which was relatively easy to pivot towards a more international focus.
The Telegram channels used by the group were sophisticated in how they presented themselves. "They know their audience," said another European official.
European intelligence and security agencies have closely monitored Wagner's role in Russia's sabotage campaign from the start. Social media accounts run by Wagner were responsible for recruiting a group of British nationals in late 2023.
Following this incident, European agencies gradually mapped a broader network of Wagner "disposable" operatives across the continent.
Security services have one advantage: what Russian intelligence gains in terms of scale and cost by using intermediaries like Wagner to recruit amateur saboteurs, it loses in competence and secrecy. Authorities have reportedly prevented more attacks than those that have succeeded.
Background: Poland recently upheld convictions of Russians who recruited people to join the Wagner Group.
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!