Russian Mercenaries: Inside the Wagner Group

The scale of operations by a shadowy Russian mercenary group in Libya's civil war, which includes links to war crimes and the Russian military, is revealed in a new BBC investigation. The group is notoriously secretive, but the BBC has managed to gain rare access to former fighters.

They revealed what type of person was joining Wagner - and the group’s lack of a code of conduct with regard to treatment of civilians or prisoners of war. A Samsung tablet left by a fighter for the Wagner group exposes its key role - as well as traceable fighter codenames. Russia denies any links to Wagner.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the BBC: "Russia is doing its utmost to promote a ceasefire and a political settlement to the crisis in Libya. Information about the presence of Wagner employees in Libya...is mostly based on rigged data...and is aimed at discrediting Russia's policy in the Libyan direction."

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  • Africa