What is the Wagner Group?

The Inquiry

• Episode: What is the Wagner Group?
• Website: The Inquiry
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p029399x/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:23:07
• Published: 2019-03-21 04:30

In recent years, in trouble spots and war zones around the world – places such as Syria, Eastern Ukraine and Central African Republic – The Wagner Group has been active. They are fighters for hire. But very little else, for certain, is known about them. Are they mercenaries working for the Russian intelligence service? Or are they muscle men securing the financial interests of powerful oligarchs? The Inquiry traces the history of the group; why they emerged and how they operate now. It is a story that twists and turns and leads to surprising – and dangerous - places.

Presenter: Kavita Puri Producer: Jordan Dunbar

Picture Credit: Valentin SprinchakTASS via Getty Images