Wagner Group of mercenaries
21-05-2023
1 min read
Overview:
Russian President Vladimir recently congratulated the Wagner mercenary group and the national army on their claimed capture of the east Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
About Wagner Group:
- What is it? The Wagner Group also known as PMC Wagner is a Russian paramilitary organization.
- Origin: The group is believed to have been founded in 2014 by a Russian veteran of the Chechen war who so admired Hitler he named the group after Richard Wagner, the führer's favorite composer.
- The skull is the symbol of the Wagner Group.
- The organization first came to the world's attention in 2014, fighting alongside Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
- The organization has also been active across Africa in recent years — Libya, Sudan, Mozambique, Mali and the Central African Republic.
- Today there are thought to be some 10,000 Wagner Group members.
- The U.S. government has called Wagner a "proxy force" of Russia's defense ministry.
What does the term ‘führer’ mean?
- Führer, also spelled Fuehrer means leader.
- It is a title used by Adolf Hitler to define his role of absolute authority.
- As early as July 1921 he had declared the Führerprinzip (“leader principle”) to be the law of the Nazi Party.
Q1) What is a Paramilitary organization?
A paramilitary organization (also listed as quasi military) is a semi-militarized force whose organizational structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not formally part of a country's armed forces.
Source: Putin congratulates Wagner, Russia army on capturing Bakhmut