Neither Timchenko nor Prigozhin are expressly named in connection with Boutas killing. A handful of Marines ran ammunition to machine guns and Javelin missile launchers scattered along the berms and wedged among the trucks. It's unclear if Russian investigative agencies have conducted, or intend to conduct, any such investigation. The Russian high command in Syria assured us it was not their people, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told senators in testimony last month. Ilya Nuzhin, Yevgenys son, confirmed to the Guardian on Monday that the man in the video was his father but declined to give further comments, citing security concerns. The video published by Novaya Gazeta appears to be just one instalment of a series of clips that record the same incident at the hands of Russian-speaking fighters, including the victim's torture, mutilation, and, ultimately, decapitation. Who Is Vagner? Russian trucks heading to Deir al-Zour, an oil-rich Syrian province that borders Iraq, last year. A report published earlier this month by the Washington-based New America Foundation and Arizona State University said that Moscow's reliance on private military companies had brought benefit to the Kremlin, including a cheaper, quicker, and more clandestine way of expanding Russia's influence. In an interview with the Russian human rights group Gulagu.net late on Sunday, Ilya Nuzhin said his family learned of their fathers death through Telegram, which left them horrified. The Wagner Group: Russia's Blackwater TRT World 2.02M subscribers Subscribe 3.9K 321K views 2 years ago From Ukraine to Syria to the Central African What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? Unless you have been on the battlefield in Syria, Libya or the Central African Republic, you most likely have never heard of the Wagner Group, a private military force with close links to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The barrage of artillery was too dangerous to drive through until airstrikes silenced the enemys howitzers and tanks. Although on Western radars for some time, the group and the extent of its activities has come more clearly to light sinceRussia's invasion of Ukraine with Moscow no longer flatly denying the organization's existence, and Prigozhin having come forward and confirmed suspicions of his leadership role in the group. The European Unionon Saturday announced additional sanctions against Russia's Wagner Group mercenary and economic organization for "human rights abuses" committed in the Central African Republic, Mali, Sudan and Ukraine. They cant say that this is just a political issue or propaganda because we are bringing this case in Russian courts, under Russian law. It sheds new light on the networks operations and reveals how the killing became a rallying point for Russian ultranationalists online. At one point in the video, a second severed head can be seen lying on the ground. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 2023 RFE/RL, Inc. All Rights Reserved. They inspected their weapons and ensured the trucks were loaded with anti-tank missiles, thermal optics and food and water. A new report by Frontline Forensics, a joint initiative of Arizona State University and the New America think tank, published on Tuesday explores the circumstances of Boutas death using company records and social media analysis. In the end, 200 to 300 of the attacking fighters were killed. It was dark, according to the documents, and the roads were littered with felled power lines and shell craters. They provide the Pentagons first public on-the-ground accounting of one of the single bloodiest battles the American military has faced in Syria since deploying to fight the Islamic State. Snippets of the video had been posted online since 2017 but the full footage was uploaded last week to a closed VKontakte group for members of Wagner. On Monday, Zambias foreign affairs minister said a 23-year-old national from that country, who was serving a jail sentence at a prison on the outskirts of Moscow, ended up fighting in Ukraine, where he was killed. Kremlin-linked private military group posted video on Telegram of apparent execution in Russia of Yevgeny Nuzhin. In another part of the video that originally surfaced in 2017, the four men laugh to a soundtrack of Russian rock music as they use a sledgehammer to crush the hand of a man shown pinned to the ground wearing bloodied civilian clothes in what appears to be an industrial zone. Syrian fighters who support the government of President Bashar al-Assad at a hospital in the eastern city of Deir-al Zour in February. Allegations of the Wagner Groups involvement in the torture and murder of al-Abdullah, who is better known by his nicknames, Hamdi or Hamadi Bouta, first emerged in June 2017 when a two-minute long video clip of the killing surfaced in an anonymous post on a Reddit subchannel popular with military geeks. While mercenary groups are outlawed within Russia, they have served as the tip of the spear of the Kremlins proxy wars abroad. The mercenary, who was been identified as Stanislav D by the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, is a former police officer from the Stavropol region in southern Russia. Gruesome Soundtrack The latest news, analysis, and data from the country each week. The air was filled with dust and shrapnel. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Weekly update on whats driving U.S. national security policy. environment on the planet from our adversaries, Gen. Tony Thomas, the head of United States Special Operations Command, said recently, referring to electronic warfare. A similar melding of public and nominally private entities was used in 2016 in a bid to influence the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, with Russian military hackers stealing emails and documents from the Hillary Clinton campaign while the so-called troll factory, allegedly funded by Prigozhin, sought to fuel divisions between American voters. Amy Mackinnon Their presence, in the eastern region known as Donbas that is home to Russia-backed separatist groups, raises concerns, given the groups history. This week marks exactly one year since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine. Unconfirmed reports said Nuzhin had been part of a recent Russian-Ukrainian prisoner exchange, news that has led to concerns among human rights groups. Some of the Green Berets and Marines took aim from exposed hatches. At 1 a.m., with the artillery fire dwindling, the team of Marines and Green Berets pulled up to the Conoco outpost and began firing. Wagner would have not been able to commit this medieval execution without the approval of the Russian security services, Osechkin said. Youre on the list! At least one Marine exposed himself to incoming fire as he used a missile guidance computer to find targets locations and pass them on to the commandos calling in the airstrikes. A video surfaced on social media showing 2 #Wagner mercenaries torturing, beheading & lynching-on-fire a #Syria -n army defector in 2017, 'just for fun.' One person sanctioned by the EU was described as "the security advisor" to PresidentFaustin Archange-Touadera. In September, Prigozhin, known as Putins chef because his catering business hosted dinners attended by the Russian president, admitted to founding Wagner, a link he has previously repeatedly denied. None of the Americans at the small outpost in eastern Syria about 40 by the end of the firefight were harmed. One of the individuals sanctioned on Saturday came under an EU sanctions regime for Mali specifically. In the video, Nuzhin was shown lying down with his head taped to a brick wall as an unidentified man in combat clothing hits him with a sledgehammer. "Yet, [private military companies] also pose substantial risks for a regime determined to keep a lid on domestic outcry over its military adventurism and to manage blowback," the report said. On March 27, 2017, Bouta traveled across the border from Lebanon into Syria at the Beirut-Damascus crossing with a group of young men from his village. Delivered Monday-Saturday. Your guide to the most important world stories of the day. Eight of the 11 individuals and all seven entities sanctions were linked to Wagner's largest and longest-runningknown operations in Africa, in the Central African Republic and Sudan. Some of the fighters appeared to have been recruited from Syria and Libya, the Pentagons spokesman, John F. Kirby, has said. Lost in the desert, he appears to have sought refuge in al-Shaer gas field, where he was later tortured and killed. Putins Russian Critics AreGrowingEver Louder, The Conversation About Ukraine Is Cracking Apart, The State Departments Lack of Diversity Is Bad for U.S. So unused to being challenged, the United States has become so filled with anxiety over China that sober responses are becoming nearly impossible. Is the United States becoming protectionist? Osechkin said all signs pointed to Wagners involvement in the killing and said he planned to send a request to Russias authorities to launch a criminal case. Family members had confirmed his death to local press, saying he had returned to Syria from Lebanon in 2017 when he was summoned to fight but later deserted. A father of four from Syrias Deir Ezzor governorate, Bouta travelled to Lebanon in 2016 in search of work in the construction industry as large swaths of the region came under Islamic State control. The brief filed on Friday in connection with Boutas case contends that the Russian government holds effective control over the Russian private military contingent that killed Bouta during operations at the al-Shaer gas plant. The 20-mile drive was made all the more difficult since the trucks did not turn on their headlights, relying solely on thermal-imaging cameras to navigate. While it is not clear whether U.S authorities would pursue further sanctions against Prigozhin, Timchenko, or any of the other entities implicated in reporting and legal filings on Boutas case the facts certainly suggest that American investigators in Washington will be tracking its outcome closely. A recent investigative report on the Wagner Group's activities in Africa surmised that it "has rapidly become the most influential form of Russian engagement in Africa today," politically, economically and militarily. U.N. investigators and rights groups say Wagner troops have targeted civilians, conducted mass executions and looted private property in conflict zones. Boutas slaying is symptomatic of the accountability vacuum in which the Wagner Group operates. Download the new FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere. With Russia suffering heavy losses, according to U.S. intelligence, Mr. Putin is sending battle-hardened reinforcements with experience into Ukraine, according to experts, including Jeremy Fleming, the director of Britains electronic surveillance agency. Its officers serving in Syria are reported to earn up to 300,000 roubles (3,800; $5,300) a month. Is the Biden administrations China policy too hawkish? Three Wagner Group mercenaries are alleged by Ukrainian prosecutors to have killed and tortured civilians near Kyiv in April 2022, alongside regular Russian troops. Theres a trend or pattern around what happens when Wagner is involved in an armed conflict, Dr. MacLeod said. After the first video was anonymously posted in June 2017 three more were posted in November 2019 and began circulating widely on Russian social media platforms. MatthewLuxmooreis a Moscow-based journalist covering Russia and the former Soviet Union. But in recent weeks, according to United States military officials, they have jammed the communications of smaller American drones and gunships such as the type used in the attack. The report also revealed that at least one of the Russian-speaking men in the video had fought in the embattled region of Donbas in eastern Ukraine before traveling to Syria to work for a contingent affiliated to the Wagner Group. Is the Biden administrations China policy too hawkish? 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