Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s private militia the Wagner Group, called off his mutiny after his forces advanced to within a few hundred kilometers of Moscow, defusing the biggest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s grip on Russia in his almost quarter-century rule.
Prigozhin’s forces had faced little resistance Saturday last week as they advanced from southern Russia toward the capital after the mercenary chief vowed to punish Russian military leaders, saying Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had orchestrated a missile attack that killed “huge” numbers of his fighters.
Putin denounced the rebellion in a televised address on Saturday last week and promised harsh punishment for Prigozhin, whom he accused of treason. Hours later, Prigozhin halted the dramatic advance, after reaching a deal to end the uprising. Putin guaranteed that Prigozhin would be allowed to leave for neighboring Belarus and authorities would drop criminal mutiny charges against him and his fighters.
Photo: Reuters 照片：路透
What is the Wagner Group?
Founded by Prigozhin in 2014, Wagner at its peak had about 50,000 mercenary recruits — many of them ex-prisoners — fighting in Ukraine. The US designated the group as a transnational criminal organization earlier this year, and Wagner has been sanctioned by Australia, Canada, Japan, the UK and the European Union. The group has operated for years on battlefields in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, where it’s been accused of committing widespread human rights abuses.
Wagner has murky legal status, and mercenaries are technically illegal in Russia. The group operates independently of the nation’s official armed forces, and recently rebuffed Moscow’s demands that its recruits sign formal contracts with the military.
Photo: AP 照片：美聯社
Who is Prigozhin and what’s his relationship to Putin?
Prigozhin, 62, is a Russian businessman and ex-convict who’s been called “Putin’s chef” due to his catering companies’ contracts with Kremlin and longstanding ties with the president. American authorities have said he controlled a troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency to interfere in 2016 US presidential election. Last year, Prigozhin confirmed he created Wagner after years of denying any connection to the group.
Long considered one of Putin’s right-hand men, Prigozhin has grown increasingly acrimonious toward Putin’s military leadership amid mounting deaths of Wagner recruits. Prigozhin for months accused the defense ministry of failing to adequately support his forces, often in provocative videos published on social media. In May, he threatened to pull his troops out of the operation if they didn’t get supplies — particularly ammunition — but later backed down.
Photo: EPA-EFE 照片：歐新社
Why is Wagner involved in Putin’s invasion?
Putin has appreciated Wagner’s help. As recently as this month, the president acknowledged that Russian forces fighting in Ukraine lack sufficient advanced weapons despite a tripling of arms output. Russia has suffered heavy losses of personnel, many of whom are barely trained and often poorly armed, although exact casualty numbers for the 16-month-long war are unclear. Wagner’s forces have been instrumental in Russia’s ground offensive; the group in May took control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut after more than 220 days of fighting.
(Bloomberg)
俄羅斯傭兵組織「瓦格納集團」首腦葉夫根尼‧普里戈津在其部隊推進到距莫斯科數百公里後停止了叛變行動，讓弗拉基米爾‧普丁控制俄國近四分之一世紀以來的最大威脅得以化解。
上週六，普里戈津的部隊由俄羅斯南部向首都推進時幾乎沒有遇到任何抵抗，這位傭兵首領誓言懲罰俄國軍事領導人，稱國防部長謝爾蓋‧蕭依古策劃了一次導彈攻擊，導致他手下「大量」戰士死亡。
普丁在上週六的電視演說中對兵變加以譴責，指控普里戈津犯了叛國罪，並保證要嚴厲懲罰他。數小時後，普里戈津在結束動亂的協議達成後停止了戲劇性的推進。普丁保證將允許普里戈津前往鄰國白俄羅斯，且當局會撤銷對他及其手下士兵的叛變刑事指控。
瓦格納集團是什麼？
瓦格納由普里戈津於2014年成立，在鼎盛時期招募了約5萬名僱傭兵——其中許多人曾是囚犯——在烏克蘭作戰。今年稍早，美國將瓦格納列為跨國犯罪組織，瓦格納已受到澳洲、加拿大、日本、英國與歐盟的制裁。該組織多年來已參與了中東、非洲與拉丁美洲的戰爭，且一直被指控在這些地方大規模侵犯人權。
瓦格納的法律地位不明，傭兵在俄國嚴格來說是非法的。該組織獨立於國家正式武裝部隊運作，最近拒絕了莫斯科令其新兵與軍方簽署正式合約的要求。
普里戈津何許人也？他與普丁是何關係？
62歲的普里戈津是一名曾被判刑的俄國商人，因其餐飲公司與克里姆林宮簽訂的合約以及與總統的長期關係而被稱為「普丁的廚師」。美國政府表示，普里戈津控制了一個名為「網路研究機構」的網軍農場，以干預2016年的美國總統選舉。去年，普里戈津證實他創立了瓦格納集團，多年來他一直否認與該集團有任何關係。
普里戈津長期以來被認為是普丁的得力助手之一，隨著瓦格納新兵死亡人數不斷增加，他對俄國總統的軍事領導層越來越尖刻。數月來，普里戈津常在社群媒體發布挑釁影片，指責俄國國防部沒有充分支援他的部隊。在5月他威脅說，若部隊得不到補給——尤其是彈藥——就將撤出行動，但他後來並未付諸實行。
瓦格納為何參與普丁的侵略？
普丁感謝瓦格納的幫助。就在本月，他承認，即便俄羅斯的武器產量增加了兩倍，但在烏克蘭作戰的俄羅斯軍隊缺乏足夠的先進武器。俄方傷亡慘重，其中許多人幾乎沒有受過訓練，且裝備往往很差，雖然這16個月的確切傷亡數字仍未明。瓦格納的部隊在俄羅斯的地面進攻中發揮了重要作用，經過220多天的戰鬥，該組織於5月控制了烏克蘭東部城市巴赫穆特。
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
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