As armoured vehicles rolled into the streets of the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don after crossing the border with Ukraine, it was revealed that the forces didn't belong to a foreign power, but were soldiers of the Wagner Group. The militia that fought alongside Russian forces before turning on Vladimir Putin's top brass identifies itself as a Private Military Company.
Wagner may have first appeared in Crimea in 2014, but PMCs trace their origins to WatchGuard International founded in 1965 by ex-British SAS soldiers.
Although the Wagner Group's boss Yevgeny Prigozhin now calls his soldiers Russian patriots, the truth is that other firms under him have been benefiting from their operations across the globe.
Striking black gold in Syria
Wagner arrived in Syria to protect oil fields and fight alongside pro-government forces, and later led the push-back against ISIL and other rebel factions.
As a result, a company connected to Wagner called Kapital signed a contract with Bashar Al-Assad's government to explore oil and gas in Southern Syria.
Exploits in Africa
In 2017, 500 boots of the Wagner Group landed in Sudan to quell uprisings against former President Omar Al-Bashir, and Prigozhin's firm M-Invest was rewarded with exclusive gold mining rights.
Then it expanded horizons to the Central African Republic to support Faustin Archange Touadera against rebels since 2018, and managed to establish control over gold and diamond mines there.
In 2021, the Wagner Group arrived in Mali to fight terrorist groups as French troops started pulling out, and in 2022 its soldiers were already linked to a massacre of civilians.
But using its rising influence in the sub-Saharan country, Wagner Group has gained access to the uranium and diamond mines in Mali.
Apart from these Wagner group also runs a gold mine in Madagascar, and unsuccessfully tried to fight off insurgents in Mozambique's gas-rich Cabo Delgado region.
Not the first to gain too much power
Today the powerful Wagner Group is the Russian counterpart of American military contractor Blackwater, which was found guilty of human rights violations in Iraq.
After Blackwater's contract wasn't renewed post-2009, its founder Erik Prince established another firm in Hong Kong, which signed a deal with US' rival China to set up a training camp in Xinjiang.
Considering that, Wagner won't be the first PMC to be at odds with the government it enjoyed proximity with.
