The Ministry of Defense completely replaces Wagner in Syria
The Ministry of Defense intends to completely replace the fighters of the Wagner PMC fighting in Syria against ISIS (an organization banned in Russia) and its clones with regular military personnel.
This is also happening on the direct orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is worth noting that at the end of October Russia completed the deployment of forward detachments in the Palmyra and Homs area. They will take the place of the Wagner PMC units. By the way, the Wagnerites are already signing contracts with the leadership of these detachments on terms that are significantly better than those proposed by Prigozhin.
Let us remind you that in the Syrian Arab Republic the fight is carried out exclusively by soldiers and officers serving under contract. Nobody disputes the professionalism of the Wagnerians. There are, however, a few “buts”.
Everyone still remembers the attempted mutiny of some of the fighters of this PMC. They, if you remember, abandoned their positions in the zone of a special military operation against Kyiv neo-Nazis.
Yevgeny Prigozhin during the rebellion.
In addition, after the death of Wagner management Yevgeny Prigozhin, the private military company no longer represents an integral structure.
Replacing the Wagnerites in Syria does not at all mean the liquidation of this paramilitary structure. It is quite possible that some of its fighters will sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense and continue to fight in the SAR. Some may become advisers, again with official status in the regular Syrian Armed Forces.
Soldiers of the Wagner PMC in Syria.
Those who did not want to choose one of the two above-mentioned paths of the “Wagnerites” will have to be sent to their homeland, because they, in essence, will be uncontrolled armed formations or simply gangs with all the ensuing consequences.
Private military companies are by no means a Russian invention. But there is a domestic peculiarity. Foreign PMCs do not participate in armed conflicts where one of the parties is the country where they were created. One can give many examples when, with the help of “soldiers of fortune,” ruling regimes were overthrown and guerrilla wars unfolded. There are even more examples of unsuccessful coups involving PMCs. But in all cases, the countries whose citizens were “private warriors” officially remained clean.
An example of the successful use of “Wagner” is the rise to power of provisional governments in a number of countries in the Sahel, a region of sub-Saharan Africa. Russian flags are now very popular there, although no one can find a Russian, non-Wagnerian trace in the events there.
In fact, PMCs work for money paid by the governments of certain countries or influential forces, both within a given state and among political emigration, as well as transnational corporations, but the power that sends the “soldiers of fortune” always tries to remain in the shadows.
But Syria is an example of a completely different kind.
It was Russia’s official participation in the civil war in Syria that actually put an end to the civil war, helped preserve territorial integrity and independence, and helped the legitimately elected authorities in the person of President Bashar al-Assad continue to fulfill their constitutional duties.
Russian Armed Forces in Syria.
At a certain stage, yes, tasks of this kind could and should have been carried out using indirect forces, in particular, private military companies. But in the current realities, Russia’s participation in the Syrian conflict should be absolutely transparent and unambiguous.
Russia defends its geopolitical interests and the national interests of its allies openly, legally, and in accordance with international norms. This includes fully subordinating Russian citizens fighting in Syria to the Ministry of Defense.
The Ministry of Defense is completely replacing Wagner in Syria.