Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1488818
scenario in which the country would be facing destabilization. Those people, for whom war crimes are a part of daily routine, are morally prepared to murder those designated as traitors by the regime, inside Russia. Especially when money and the protection of one's own interest are involved. This is loyalty based on blood and crimes committed together. Wagner Group in Ukraine The Wagner Group's involvement in the 2014-2015 events happening in Ukraine has been limited. The structures were being just formed then, and they were not that expensive. Small squads took part in the early stages of the conflict, but they were not associated with the current name. A bit later, the Group was used to start purges among the hybrid Russian military units in Donbas. The Wagner Group was tasked with eliminating leaders of the individual armed elements, whose stance was not aligned with that of the Kremlin, and who became independent. This contributed to the establishment of a homogeneous structure of the Donbas people's Republic armed forces. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine (February 24th, 2022), the Wagner Group was not directly involved in the Russian invasion. According to data published by the Russian Medusa outlet in a quite significant study on the involvement of the Russian contingents in the Ukrainian theater, it was not expected that we would witness a major involvement of the Wagner Group in that conflict. The Wagner units were to remain in Africa, and the Middle East. There was no need to redeploy them, assuming the operation in Ukraine was to be a quick and easy win for the regular units of the Russian military. The situation began to change in late March, when it became clear that rapid operation would be transformed into a lengthy conflict, with heavy fighting. The losses near Kyiv forced the Russian command to look for immediately available reserves. The Wagner's bunch was a good solution here - extra mobilization was launched by the organization internally. The personnel of the group deployed abroad were being brought home, as combat experience was priceless at this stage. The Wagner Group maintained a certain recruitment threshold and quality standards for its personnel and training. That meant that only certain criminals could have passed the recruitment process. Those who potentially could harm the discipline are rejected. However, during the so-called "second stage" of the "special operation", the ANALYSIS