wagner group is the best private military group in the world. everybody understands this. the same time, wagner played an important tool in the ukrainian war. in the battle of bakhmut, wagner not just took back. wagner was very important strategically in terms of time. russian army needed time to prepare its defense line against attack of ukrainian army in july. wagner give this to the russian army. played an important role. then yevgeny prigozhin -- [indiscernible] russian government needed their support to save such people who were part of the wagner group. they are not criminals. 80% of them are not criminals. they are former special troops. [indiscernible] also to use them in another country. sami: coming back to the point, do you see any indication now that the russian state is ending some of its contracts and funding to wagner? sergei: uh, no. this financial support decreased, but not stopped. because the russian government now has to reorganize. 90% of them will be in ukraine and 10% will be used in different african and asian countries. sami: we will pick you up la

so whether the wagner group, or what remains of the wagner group, or what remains of the wagner groupe future. but it's not directly connected to yevgeny prigozhin himself. fiend not directly connected to yevgeny prigozhin himself.— not directly connected to yevgeny prigozhin himself. and what about the wagner _ prigozhin himself. and what about the wagner mercenary _ prigozhin himself. and what about the wagner mercenary group? i prigozhin himself. and what about | the wagner mercenary group? this prigozhin himself. and what about i the wagner mercenary group? this is a group that's been active since 2014, it was highly active in the ukraine war until that mutiny in june. what could happen to them without prigozhin? i june. what could happen to them without prigozhin?— without prigozhin? i think that pritozhin without prigozhin? i think that prigozhin served _ without prigozhin? i think that prigozhin served the _ without prigozhin? i think that prigozhin served the role i without prigozhin? i think that prigozhin served the role of. prigozhin served the role of commercial leader, but

has done to _ do more about wagner groups and what russia has done to africa _ do more about wagner to africa for decades— russia has done to africa for decades at— russia has done to africa for decades at this _ russia has done to africa for decades at this point. - russia has done to africa for decades at this point. this . russia has done to africa forj decades at this point. this is russia has done to africa for- decades at this point. this is not gnu, _ decades at this point. this is not gnu, prigozhin— decades at this point. this is not gnu, prigozhin 's _ decades at this point. this is not gnu, prigozhin '5 death- decades at this point. this is not gnu, prigozhin '5 death does- decades at this point. this is not| gnu, prigozhin '5 death does not determine — gnu, prigozhin '5 death does not determine how— gnu, prigozhin '5 death does not determine how they _ gnu, prigozhin '5 death does not determine how they are - gnu, prigozhin '5 death does not determine how they are going. gnu, prigozhin '5 death does not determine how they are going to| determine how they are going to pro

after the presumed death of yevgeny prigozhin, what's the future of his wagner group? active across several countries in africa. only a few days ago, prigozhin was seen in a video trumpeting wagner's role in making �*africa more free'. as he put it. 0ne place where the group has been operating is mali, where the mercenaries are believed to have about 1,000 soldiers. groups linked to al-qaeda and islamic state group have brought chaos and violence to the country and the malian military government has been depending on russia and wagner support to deal with the growing insurgency. that reliance led france to end its military operation in mali last year. bbc arabic�*s feras kilani is the firstjournalist to travel to northern mali since french forces left. he made the dangerous journey with producer mohamed ebrahim and cameraman dany abi khalil. the start of a thousand mile journey across vast deserts to an unseen conflict, where wagner fighters clash with jihadists and rebel groups. it's impossible to operate here without a convoy of heavy security. i'm dressing to blend

— contender to take over the wagner group? the names are fairly silent — wagner group?up? the names are fairly silent right now- wagner group? the names are fairly silent right now in - fairly silent right now in terms of us being able to determine who is a leading contender. prigozhin, for all of his faults and inhumanity and his actions of he and his followers against the rest of the world, he clearly had a functioning organisation. so i think we are going to see some of these very able and talented blue tenants rise to the four and one, if not a couple of them, forming a coalition or one individually, will take over. i think it would take some time for it to develop in the coming days and weeks. meanwhile, what impact do you think that could have on the fighting in ukraine and russia's war efforts? i think the wagner _ russia's war efforts? i think the wagner group's - russia's war efforts? i thinkl the wagner group's influence russia's war efforts? i think - the wagner group's influence on what is going on now and in the very nearfuture in ukraine will be limited. t

pressure's civil aviation authority said wagner mercenary group -- russia's civil ab authority said wagnercenary group leader yevgeny prigozhin was killed in the crash. donald trump's former personal attorney has surrendered to authorities in georgia. rudy giuliani, trunk, and 17 others are accused of trying to overturn the results of the state's 2020 election. giuliani was booked before being released on bond. the former mayor of new york entered a not guilty plea to 30 charges including racketeering, forgery, and making false statements. former u.s. president trump has said he will turn himself in on thursday. >> i am very, very honored. [indiscernible] this indictment is a travesty. it is an attack on not just me, not just president trump, -- [indiscernible] this is an attack on the american people. if this can happen to me, who was probably the most prolific prosecutor may be in american history and the most effective mayor for sure, it can happen to you. >> very busy day where you are. >> that's right. as you saw from that brief comment from rudolph giuliani, the former president's la

that is wagner group but in terms of the | wagner group but in terms of the west, the french and the got troops in niger and they have used it as a base, what is the prospect for that now? it is looking re rim prospect for that now? it is looking pretty grim for— prospect for that now? it is looking pretty grim for western _ prospect for that now? it is looking pretty grim for western and - pretty grim for western and international forces in pretty grim for western and internationalforces in niger and international forces in niger and there internationalforces in niger and there are 2600 french and us troops in the country, it is a huge country of only 27 million people, very large areas, and the french and americans and germans and italians and the british have used it as a base to fight the jihadists insurgents, the ones linked to al-qaeda and isis but they have not been able to defeat them and there is a bit of a hangover from french colonial rule where a number of people of niger have supported the coup saying we have got nothing from the french. they failed to defeat the french.

that is when he founded the wagner mercenary group. denied his connections with this private army for many years, even suing journalists who linked him to the organization. but he became the face of wagner after russia's invasion of ukraine, recruiting prisoners for its ranks and personally involved in some of the most brutal combat. wagner sources are accused of widespread abuses and a link to war crimes in ukraine and africa. relations with the kremlin soured because of the war in ukraine. a power struggle with the russian defense minister and battlefield commanders began. he accused them of incompetence and failing to surprise wagner --to supply wagner with ammunition. in may, he pulled his mercenaries out of ukraine, and a month later, he led a mutiny, which russian leader vladimir putin called treason. he ended the insurrection on the road to moscow, and he appeared to have struck a deal with putin to continue operating. our guests today to talk about all this. in moscow, pavel felgenhauer, defense and military analyst. in brussel

and soon the wagner group reached far beyond ukraine. ng in the 2016 us election. in syria, wagner fighters supported pro—government forces. more recently, there are multiple reports of wagner's military and commercial activity in africa with the eu accusing the group of committing torture and extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings. and then came the war. when putin wanted to give his invasion of ukraine impetus, prigozhin and his fighters were called in. but, as wagner's death toll grew, so did prigozhin�*s fury. expressed first in video rants and then in a short—lived mutiny. in the aftermath, putin condemned the mutineers as traitors. but for prigozhin, charges were dropped, no arrest followed. we asked, why wasn't putin punishing prigozhin? perhaps he was biding his time. lets try to work out what has been going on in russia with this extraordinary development. with me is our security correspondent frank gardner. joining me live arejustin crump, ceo of sibylline, intelligence consultancy — who's also a british arm

he took apart the wagner group. i'm sure he will take control of the wagner group elements in africa. that's a money making profit center. he fired the four-star russian air force general, another indication to the uniformed military, you better follow orders, so i think putin's probably in control in the short run. look, this thing is coming apart. the russians have had 300,000 killed and wounded fighting in ukraine. it's a mess. and they're not on the offensive right now. they're trying to defend against a smaller ukrainian force. in the long run, russia's economy, their military are going to get weaker, not stronger. so putin's on shaky ground, and we ought to be concerned about who's next. it's unlikely that a great democrat will emerge from the russian opposition and replace putin. but he's on real in a morass right now, he's got russia in terrible trouble. >> evelyn farkas, obviously this is a man who has been, i think, arguably underestimated before or at least the reports of his demise were greatly exaggerat

and they sort of _ wagner group. this 25,000 of them. and they sort of stuff _ wagner group.hey've been doing elsewhere _ and they sort of stuff they've been doing elsewhere in _ and they sort of stuff they've been doing elsewhere in africa - and they sort of stuff they've been doing elsewhere in africa and - and they sort of stuff they've beenj doing elsewhere in africa and latin america. _ doing elsewhere in africa and latin america. you — doing elsewhere in africa and latin america, you have _ doing elsewhere in africa and latin america, you have to _ doing elsewhere in africa and latin america, you have to expect - doing elsewhere in africa and latin america, you have to expect that i america, you have to expect that to continue _ america, you have to expect that to continue the — america, you have to expect that to continue. the warnings _ america, you have to expect that to continue. the warnings we - america, you have to expect that to continue. the warnings we must - continue. the warnings we must continue — continue. the warnings we must continue to— continue. the wa

and soon the wagner group reached far beyond ukraine. of interfering in the 2016 us election. in syria, wagner fighters supported pro—government forces. more recently there are multiple reports of wagner's military and commercial activity in africa. with the eu accusing the group of committing... "torture and extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary "executions and killings." and then came the war. when putin wanted to give his invasion of ukraine impetus, prigozhin and his fighters were called in. but as wagner's death toll grew, so did prigozhin's fury. expressed first in video rants. and then in a short—lived mutiny. in the aftermath, putin condemned the "the mutineers and traitors." but for prigozhin, charges were dropped, no arrest followed. and we asked, why wasn't putin punishing prigozhin? perhaps he was biding his time. earlier i spoke with former us ambassador to nato kurt volker. he also served as us special representative for ukraine negotiations, engaging with senior russian counterparts to try to chart a path to peace following t

wagnerian militants that the international criminal court is very experienced in dealing with groups such as wagner and as well as government institutions and governments their prices state groups the answer yes there is a good probability of new arrest warrants because the present putin continues almost daily to expose himself for committing serious crimes or inciting serious crimes and in the end there may be an arrest warrant issued against putin by an international criminal trial for the activities of the wagner group, potential international criminal court investigations into the activities of the wagner group militants could lead to new arrest warrants for putin for crimes that number increases daily oleksiy kovalenko voice of america washington more than 24 thousand people in ukraine are still considered missing as a result of the war ukrainian authorities believe that 60% of them are alive and are in captivity others will need to be identified by dna tests and in 2014 search for people who disappeared due to the war the international commission on missing persons is helping. my colleague ma

that prigozhin was certainly in africa on monday, which has been the main theater in which the wagner groupeen operating, conducting fighting and destabilizing operations since essentially withdrawing from ukraine. christian: the common affairs -- the reign affairs committee said a few weeks ago the government had underplayed and underestimated wagner for almost a decade. are you suggesting they would be alive to the possibility that even with prigozhin out of the way, this group, whether it's under the name wagner or n, would continue to operate in countries like niger? lucy: it's likely it would. the u.k. government, it must be said, has already unveiled a list of sanctions against wagner's senior officials, including in places in africa in marly, in the central african republic where senior commanders of the group have been accused of torture and executions, also in places like south sudan where the u.k. government has accused its commanders of stoking instability, being behind propaganda undermining the authorities locally. so these are well established operations across africa one woul

it is best known as the founder of russia's, mice and rate wagner. group off to spending time in jail. and so if you get time zeros to proteins in saint petersburg with various business dealings before going close to the kremlin and eventually providing very lucrative catering contracts to the russian. all me off the founding, the wagner group and shop rated building brushes, borders in africa. it rose to prominence in ukraine. most note to be for the bustle of box moved, but it proved itself, as well as most capable of fighting force precautions. relationship with the criminal quickly grew a talk, say, cops. he was very critical of the russian top for us. the russian generals by come on and defense, she was accusing them very publicly, very strongly of incompetence and corruption that resulted in him leading. and it will fight, didn't use any exactly 2 months for the day in which she marched on most capable, quickly standing down for them. negotiations with boots in a positive of a sudden co. i'm off to that so he's fades very much hung in the balance. it

blinken — has voiced his concern that niger's military leaders, might turn to the russian mercenary group — wagnerthe central african republic — injuly of this year — and its leader has welcomed the takeover. the coup leaders, are currently standing firm against calls to restore democratic rule. here's what mr blinken had to say about wagner a little earlier. for sure, we have concerns when we see something like the wagner group possibly manifesting itself in different parts of the sahel. and here is why we are concerned... because every single place that this group, wagner group has gone, death, destruction and exploitation have followed. insecurity has gone up, not down. it has not been a response to the needs of the countries in question for greater security. i think what happened and what continues to happen in niger was not instigated by russia or by wagner but to the extent that they try to take advantage of it and we see a repeat of what has happened in other countries where they've brought nothing but bad things in their wake, that wouldn't be good. well, the wagner leader — yevgeny prigoz

dead, the news coming from a telegram channel affiliated with the wagner mercenary group. he and another wagner g4 on board. let's get more reaction and analysis. we bring in a general is that ukraine crisis media center. thank you very much for being with us. your reaction, if indeed it is true that yevgeny prigozhin is dead. >> in a way, we were prepared for such a murder, such an accident. i can only confirm that multiple ukrainians believed it could not be an accident and it was planned. we know that wagner and its leader, he was weekend after its assault, and in a way, we were prepared for such an accident, but still, we are quite astonished by the reaction and confirmation because three minutes after the accident, russian media were stating that prigozhin was dead, and now this telegram channel talking about the fact that the body has already been identified. in a way they tried to make us seem -- they tried to make us believe that per goshen -- that prigozhin is dead. we will see how this goes and if it is true. but prigozhin is a criminal and there is no empathy for

wagner grou has? ~ . , ., , �*, group has? the wagner group as it's been for the — group has?en for the last _ group has? the wagner group as it's been for the last few _ group has? the wagner group as it's been for the last few years _ group has? the wagner group as it's been for the last few years ceases i been for the last few years ceases to exist. it will not survive in its present form. it was a threat to the state. the kremlin cannot tolerate an armed, heavily armed, well—trained group of officers. they killed fellow russians. they cannot tolerate that. some of it i think, all of them, they have been told that they must sign an oath of allegiance to the russian ministry of defence. they've got a big foothold in west africa and there will be reluctant to let that go so i think there will be a purge of senior commanders, new commanders in who are probably members of the russian military intelligence, one of the three intelligence agencies but very much an arm of the government. and that will bring the wagner group under its control and the expectation is they will do more

image of the business jet outside of moscow that according to reports contained the leader of the wagner group prigozhin. he was a part of the inner circle especially after the invasion of ukraine began. wagner formed in 2014 when the russians were backing the russian-backed separatist in the eastern ukraine region. and when the invasion started, his role was significant, leading brutal fighters into battle and largely seen as a secret weapon for russian president vladimir putin and in the good graces of the russian leader but quickly that relationship soured and saw it lead to a coup attempt on the russian capital of moscow in late june and speculation what rose afterwards what would happen to prigozhin. on monday he was in subsaharan africa where many wagner fighters are operating, but how a man who tried to overthrow the russian president could be working for the russian government in other parts of the world. and reports appear to have been coordinated across russian state media, prigozhin is dead as a result of a plane crash following air defense shooting down this business jet. as we are

i means for the wagner group and its oerations? ~ means for the wagner group and its operations?— means for the wagner group and its 0 erations? ~' ~ ,, a, , operations? i think the wagner group is a bit in trouble _ operations? i think the wagner group is a bit in trouble to _ operations? i think the wagner group is a bit in trouble to continue - is a bit in trouble to continue because not only prigozhin was in it, but his second—in—command who is in charge of military operation and a number of key person like head of security. managing one of the biggest company of people for wagner operation so it's a very big blow to the structure. operation so it's a very big blow to the structure-— the structure. how is it possible that all these _ the structure. how is it possible that all these people _ the structure. how is it possible that all these people who - the structure. how is it possible that all these people who must| that all these people who must surely have taken personal security into consideration were all travelling on the same plane? 50 travelling on the same plane? sr t

group? how much is wagner's? how much is the value group? have the support right of the russian state and, and the if, if it's confirmed that he is that he's been killed and who has been killed to will be very important for those that have a stakes with the bag. and especially in bama code where we've seen 2 big ants enough airplane land with arms and, and fighters just a few days ago with promises of more help for molly in a country that's dealing with attacks from armed groups going that have asked the biggest the un peacekeeping force to withdraw, hoping that the russian bag newer would step in and replace them and say, the timing of this plane crash is quite significant coming a day after you've got any pre goshen release that video and also 3 months to the date since the field mutiny by providing the missionary of pope in russia. now, do you think this will cause that you've covered this region extensively, west africa? will this cause if it is confirmed that you have any for goshen, has indeed been killed? will this cause countries lik

and soon the wagner group reached far beyond ukraine. hin of interfering in the 2016 us election. in syria, wagner fighters supported pro—government forces. more recently there are multiple reports of wagner's military and commercial activity in africa. with the eu accusing the group of committing... "torture and extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings". and then came the war. when putin wanted to give his invasion of ukraine impetus, prigozhin and his fighters were called in. but as wagner's death toll grew, so did prigozhin�*s fury. expressed first in video rants. and then in a short—lived mutiny. in the aftermath, putin condemned the "the mutineers and traitors". but for prigozhin, charges were dropped, no arrest followed. and we asked why wasn't putin punishing prigozhin? perhaps he was biding his time. i'm joined now by ian bremmer, founder and president of the political risk consultants, eurasia group. thank you forjoining us. i want to get right to the question of your reaction. he had set up to that mutiny atte

the wagner group and nuclear weapons are coming. poland is on the front of this confrontation with russia, given that 90% of military aid to ukraine goes through poland and poland is becoming a strong nato ally along with spending over 40% on defense this year. sohail: how worried should we be about the buildup of russians ally on the belarus border? >> russia has been using bell arrests as a launchpad for its -- using belarus as a launchpad for its aggression against ukraine. there are reports this morning saying that lukashenko has actually kicked the wagner group's out. we are waiting for confirmation on that story. the wagner troops have unsettled everyone. they have established a reputation of being ferocious fighters. having such a people who force in belarus has unsettled everybody, poland in particular. lukashenko is a bit of a loose cannon. the chances of belarus and him attacking poland i think are very low. but he likes to mix things up and buildup tensions, which he uses in his negotiations with vladimir putin. keep in p

backin the co—founder of the wagner group back in 2014. just the co-founder of the wagner groupreiterate some ofthe back in 2014. just to reiterate some of the information, _ back in 2014. just to reiterate some of the information, that _ back in 2014. just to reiterate some of the information, that broke - back in 2014. just to reiterate some of the information, that broke in . of the information, that broke in the last few minutes that's been verified by the bbc, comments made by to the first time on the plane crash that appears to have killed prigozhin and he said prigozhin was a talented person and expressed his condolences to the families of everyone killed. as we been hearing over the past few minutes and hours, beenin over the past few minutes and hours, been in the speculation on social media about the crash and robinson from bbc verifies been sifting through many of posts. prigozhin, the wagner group mercenary chief is presumed dead after his plane crashed. prigozhin and the co—founder dmitry utkin were both on this list of passengers on the plane. that did not stop spe

they expected you gave me per goes ins. wagner group to help fill the void and back government troops and their fight against groups linked to iso and al qaeda in the region. but even before promotions reported death security analysts say fighting between those groups was on the rise. also increasing human rights violations by government troops and civilian deaths. what c, nasser is a security analyst that came in human rights abuses. it's huge. you had to use. and by wagner going in, the french went out and now the me just my is going out raising a georgia, a huge voice actually, and permitting those groups to ask more freely drawn down the mission. and molly, by the end of the year, was never going to be easy. by comparison, the un took 3 years to withdraw force half its size from dar for sudan. now growing instability in this a whole region cast out on the u. n's ability to make that timeline. a new report by the un secretary general notes. the recent qu in the share a trans at hub for you and operations, will make the drawdown extremely challenging and require more than the $59000

it was the wagner group. he was warshiped in a way by the wagner group. he led this group over the strong cult of personality. the wagner group was known for extreme violence and brutality, including using sledge hammers to beat their opponents to death in a symbolic ritual to show how horrific they were and what the costs of betrayal could be. prigozhin, according to the russians, when they raided his house, they found sledge hammers, embossed sledge hammers, that would be given out as a state gift. he was operating state within the state of wagner, and he depends on them for security. after the mutiny, and i think that's why we're seeing this time lag, putin and the military, and talking about this deep resentment between wagner and the military, the military has been absorbing wagner, taking pieces away from it, taking control of the organization one bit at a time. and that would also suggest that his power, his protection force was also eroding as the russian state was draining wagner of its resources and enterprises. >> i want to bring in also nbc's

wagner grove says it's late a if got if it goes in is that the 3 groups had was listed as a passenger on board. private jets, which has crashed with no survivors, as it traveled from moscow, just increasing the welcome to the program, the leader of the wagner most indeed group is thought to be dead rational. it's hard to say it's got if it goes it was listed as a passenger on a flight. they've crushed on route from moscow to some painters, but that's hard to say. own 10 people on board, the private jet with killed still. no, no, none of the print version was actually on the plane in june. and he's fights as most unfortunate attempt to take moscow after taking the regional capital roll stuff on down the valve in the group for the brutal bottle in ukraine for several months to take the city of basketball. well, 2 days before base that crash images proposing to show for gordon in an african country surface on social media. even video released on the messaging after telegram, he claimed that she's mostly of interest and was making africa free, a bottomless present in several african count

wagner. a private military group contracted to do the fighting. it's help secure and for the russian interests and save the syrian government from collapse relative to to other countries. i think their role in, in syria has proven more pivot told because they were involved in direct clashes on the ground. so however, their role recently, at least, militarily has waned alongside the russian military. it's helped president aside, maintain control of much of the country, but it's role expanded. it benefited economically, whether from revenues from oil and gas or phosphate mines. it took advantage of a failed state and recruited syrians to fight in for an operations. some were sent to the libyan battle field. wagner is also believed to have used russian naval in air bases as a logistics hub for the global operations. there are those who believe the discourse between the wagner group and the russian military leadership began in syria. is this the vision due to the ambitions of documents headed to goshen? commodities in the russian military will always

prigozhin led two months ago today as you mentioned, vladimir putin has come out and said in fact the wagner group the state. and certainly the state backing being something suspected. 0n certainly the state backing being something suspected. on that basis you can imagine that the continuation of wagner will go on. we know that some of the private mercenaries who were loyal to prigozhin opted to take the offer made by putin in the wake of the coup to go to belarus to stop the leader of belarus alexander lukashenko being a key player in negotiating the truce that ended that aborted coup. however, others have been draughted to the ministry of defence in russia. already the organisation is a bit different. we know that prigozhin was in africa on monday, which has been the main theatre in which wagner group has been operating, conducting fighting, destabilising operations sense of essentially withdrawing from ukraine. .., ., essentially withdrawing from ukraine. ., , ukraine. the common affairs committee — ukraine. the common affairs committee here _ ukraine. the common affairs committee here said - u

antony blinken — has voiced his concern that niger'sjunta might turn to the russian mercenary group — wagnerhe group is active in neighbouring countries and its leader has welcomed the takeover. the coup leaders are currently standing firm against calls to restore democratic rule. here's what mr blinken had to say — about wagner — a little earlier: for sure we have concerns when we see something like the wagner group possibly manifesting itself in different parts of the sahel. and here is why we are concerned. because every single place that this group, wagner group has gone, death, destruction and exploitation have followed. insecurity has gone up, not down. it has not been a response to the needs of the countries in question for greater security. i think what happened and what continues to happen in niger was not instigated by russia or by wagner but to the extent that they try to take advantage of it and we see a repeat of what has happened in other countries where they've brought nothing but bad things in their wake, that wouldn't be good. well, niger has been a crucial staging post for

while within the wagner groups network, it leads to a lot of uncertainty with the partners. the wagner had been working with particularly those in sub saharan africa, that are extremely dependent on wagner to preserve the security of their under machines. and so my interpretation is that by waiting these 2 months to end has had time to carefully calculate how he wanted to do this. notably, if the reports are true and false for goshen. and dmitri, the ken was his 2nd in command leading to board number. if both were indeed on board the plane and were killed in a crash, so it has illuminated 2 birds with one stone here. additionally, this has given him time to ensure that he has control over and a plan for that wider volunteer network will carry military. um, so if you typically think of as well as these other companies all linked back to production. understood. so if we presume the russian state data august, right best, and we also presume that it's a very public nature and was also a warning up slash demonstration. and i believe so, i think that particularly given all of the a

this is the wagner group's business model. they find countries in africa in particular that are weak, that are vulnerable to being overthrown by rebel movements, and they come in and they offer security services, to prop up the dictators, but in exchange, they take whatever they want. in the central african republic, they take diamond mines and gold mines. i went to the central african republic with a team, spoke to people at the gold mines, and describes how the process happened. wagner was there, they ran the government, they patrolled openly in the streets, and when they arrived at a mine site that they wanted to take over, they told the people to leave, and if they refused they killed them or killed several of them in order to terrify the rest of the people and buried them right there in the center of the village in order to send a message, get out while you still can. that was their business model, and it was a successful business model because, well, not for the people of the central african republic, but successful from

two months to the day after the private russian mercenary wagner group staged a failed mutiny, the group'sd yevgeny prigozhin was apparently killed in a plane crash north of moscow shortly after 6:00 p.m. local time. eyewitness videos posted online show the plane was missing a wing as it spiraled to the ground. the official passenger list said several other senior wagner members were onboard, including dmitry utkin, veteran wagner group commander evgeniy makaryan who fought with the mercenary group in syria, and longtime prigohzin ally valery chekalov, who was in charge of his business empire, including his oil investments in syria. last month, the united states imposed sanctions on chekalov for facilitating shipments of weapons to russia. the crash spark widespread speculation that prigozhin and other leaders were assassinated for leading a failed mutiny engine that so heavily armed mercenaries advanced within 120 miles on most out. adding to the speculation, russian media reported wednesday the kremlin has fired the senior russian general as air force chief. the general was known as an a

one would assume that fruitless trying to regain control of the wagner group. but it's a, it's a far flung organization with some capability. and it will be everyone will be watching to see if they go rogue. you say this is a thoughtful organization. it reminds me a little bit of this will capture the hydra, what you, you cut off the head and tubal repair. it is a case in terms of block that it is difficult to the who will take charge is a promotion as we see is dead. and his number 2, who takes charge a will they b as a easy to work with for both sco vice versa to well, i think the wagner group gave, put in some deniability, you know, they, they were obviously an asset to the russian federation, but obviously able to operate at some arm's length. i do think, given what happened 2 months ago, there, there has been issues and will be a concerted effort by the kremlin, you know, to, to shorten the range of the wagner group, just to make sure that whatever they're doing is in support of russian objectives and not bogged or objectives and that's going to take time

the leader of the mercenary group wagner, yevgeny prigozhin? prigozhin and his deputy dmitry utkin are presumed to have died. the bodies are yet to be identified. amidst huge speculation over what's happened, the kremlin and vladimir putin have remained silent. we'll be asking what this means for the war in ukraine, for the wagner group, and also for the russian leadership. also on the programme: the government has ordered an independent inquiry into the handling of the andrew malkinson case. his conviction for rape was quashed after 17 years in prison the number of people in the uk waiting for a decision on their asylum claim has risen to a record high, latest figures show. i got igotan i got an eight in polish! there's jubilation and inevitably disappointment as hundreds of thousands of pupils get their gsce results in england, wales and northern ireland. joshis josh is going to get there! its gold! and giving it his all — britain'sjosh kerr has a thrilling finish to win the 1500m race in the athletics world championships in budapest. and com

management on see up regarding the entropy literally, the old can indeed dad vans days of the wagner group as a unified military group. i over, i believe lute because despite all his group deeds is marshall and crew, the appearance was the yeah, kind of car is magically to at least for the pay to mass and raise fighting on the front lines. so i can imagine that the value of the units will no longer exist as a brand, but to many of the soldiers a likely to, to wants to continue fighting as mercenaries is. the only question is, who pays to them? as a minister of defense pays well very well by russians down there. it's about the apparently not as well as precaution, the w theory or shadow. thank you. now much is still a no and about you have get any promotions fate. but in his home city of st. petersburg, where wagner group has of headquarters, supporters have begun erecting a makeshift memorial for the mercenary leader. for goes in story is a remarkable one. he rose from selling st food to become clinton's personal chef in the kremlin. his growing power as a mercenary leader became cleared d

what is the effect on russia's military without the wagner group specifically? ukraine? gner forces were some of the most brutal but also some of the most effective there. >> yeah, that's exactly right, jim. one of the key things about this is this is going to have real impact if it is indeed prigozhin on this plane that crashed north of moscow. that's going to have a profound impact on russia's ability to fight the war in ukraine, remember the center of attention, almost the center of gravity of the russian war effort was for many months for about ten months centered on bakhmut and the first and the forces that were actually running that show for the russians, that was prigozhin. and he was responsible in his own brutal way for that one bright spot from their point of view in that war effort. well, what's happening now if he has indeed been killed in this play crash and the wagner group is being decimated by all accounts in many respects, that could have a significant impact on the ability of the russians to carry out their war effort. and i think it would potentially ha

this is bbc news reports from russia — the leader of the wagner mercenary group yevgeny prigozhin is lled in a plane crash — two months after his forces launched a mutiny against the russian military. the bbc can confirm that the wagner boss was listed as a passenger on a private plane which crashed north of moscow en route to saint petersburg. emergency services say all 10 people on board were killed. this radar recording shows the plane travelling north west — before disappearing from radar. hello, i'm nancy kacungira, welcome to the daily global, where we'll bring you the top stories from around the world. a stories from around the world. big breaking storyt the russian federal agency for air transport says the wagner mercenary group boss yevgeny prigozhin was on board an aircraft that has crashed in tver region in russia. the russian emergencies ministry has said that the aircraft "came down" near the village of kuzhenkino in the tver region. the ministry said the jet was flying from moscow to st petersburg, and that ten people, including three crew members, were on board. the sta

how important vital is wagner group. now that is a fine thing for us. but also as stefan was explaining a, a nexus of commercial interests of some why are you doing this? is it doesn't potentially named menu or there are other options that are all smaller or less. that's well known, but also less capable as we understand the diner in the same sort of network of shell companies networks. hello. i'll head a hole in getting and navigating best and sanctions no, they don't. if you look at what's happening and in my reading of this would be to, does that make me fire and it's still very special. yeah, friends of course, of course, because it's part of the problem and then they're too close. yeah. they're dangerous. so wherever they are, when they're from their address backwards interest and whose interest in the russian states allowing, well they align if you put them in by the roots, a contingency of them there to trying to find a rush and for those keep tabs on the shank oh, i know so keep the polls worried that is a great use of 500 resorts, is they align

today after the funeral of gabon , --yevgeny prigozhin, the leader of the wagner mercenary group and roversy that goes with that, you found videos that appear to show cemeteries where wagner fighters have been buried being set on fire. truth or fake? correspondent: these videos have been shared widely on social media ever since russia announced that yevgeny prigozhin , the russian warlord, had been killed in a plane crash and they were doing the rounds. let's look at the first one. here it is. here we see a russian mercenary in a cemetery and he alleges that graves'that fighters have been destroyed and we see -- graves of fighters have been destroyed and receipt that, and another pile of flowers removed from the graves and these have been shared by wagner supporters and pro-ukraine accounts. with the allegation, claimed that in fact it is part of a sort of a rewriting, re-falsifying that history by the russian state, but this accusation is denied by wagner -affiliated telegram channels. and also pro-russian media, so we have this article here, yeah, so this article was published in a

a warning from washington about the wagner mercenary group taking advantage of the coup in niger. us secretary of state, antony blinken, speaks to the bbc... every single place that this group, wagner group has gone, death, destruction and exploitation have followed. south american leaders meet to discuss measures to save the amazon rainforest. thousands gather on the streets of bray — to pay their respects to the singer sinead o'connor. hello, i'm lucy hockins, welcome to bbc news now. three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. we begin with the major political emergency unfolding in west africa — following a military coup in niger. diplomatic efforts to find a resolution to the crisis have stepped up a gear — with a warning from washington. speaking to the bbc, the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has voiced his concern that niger'sjunta might turn to the russian mercenary group wagnerfor help. the group is active in neighbouring countries and its leader has welcomed the takeover. the coup leaders are currently standing firm against calls to restore democrat

think of it in another way — the wagner group is not one group. it is actually two. larus and in ukraine and these are like those that were dumped out atjails and they are not mercenaries. they are cannon fodder and they are being brought into the russian military as we speak and that is what the generals wanted and they are going to be fed into they are going to be fed into the stalingrad of ukraine to die, and then there is the wagner group in africa, and these were the skilled mercenaries, and they did two things for putin. (i) mercenaries, and they did two things for putin. (1) is they spread russian influence around the continent through autocracy and (2) is they sucked natural resources like gold and sent them back to russia to fuel the war in ukraine and putin needs both where they are at. looking specifically _ both where they are at. looking specifically at — both where they are at. looking specifically at ukraine _ both where they are at. looking specifically at ukraine because i specifically at ukraine because this counteroffensive is moving slowly — what c

how important vital is wagner group. now that is a fine thing for us. but also as defining was explaining a, a nexus of commercial interests, a semi reading. this is, it doesn't potentially names the menu or there are other options that are all smaller, less and that's all now little so less capable is the understand the designer at the same sort of network of shell companies know what to i'll head a full in getting and navigating best and sanctions no, they don't. if you look at what's happening and in my reading of this would be to, does that make me fire and it's still very special. yeah. friends, of course, of course, because it's part of the proven and then they're too close. yeah. they're dangerous . so wherever they're, when they're from their address packers interest and whose interest and the rest of the states allowing, well they align if you put them in by the roots, a contingency of them there to try and the batteries and forces keep tabs on new to shameka and also keep the polls worried that as a great use of 500 resorts as they align if yo