Complaint: 'Former Wagner active in Europe as Russian saboteurs'

According to Western intelligence officials, recruiters and propagandists who previously worked for the Russian Wagner Group have emerged as the main conduit for the sabotage attacks organised by the Kremlin in Europe. The Financial Times writes this. The status of the fighter group has been uncertain since a failed rebellion against the Russian army leadership in June 2023 resulted in a crackdown and the death of its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

But the Wagner recruiters, who specialise in persuading young men from the Russian hinterland to fight in Ukraine, have been given a new assignment: recruiting economically vulnerable Europeans to carry out acts of violence on NATO soil, officials said. Russia's military intelligence agency (Gru) "is using the talent at its disposal," a Western intelligence official said, referring to the Wagner network. For the Crane, the Wagner network has proven to be a particularly effective, if rudimentary, tool for achieving this goal, senior European intelligence officials told the Financial Times.

Wagner agents have received assignments of all kinds, from arson attacks on politicians' cars and warehouses containing aid for Ukraine, to posing as Nazi propagandists. Generally, those recruited did so for money and were often marginalised individuals, sometimes lacking purpose or direction. Prigozhin was also responsible for running the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency - Russia's most notorious 'troll farm' - which began targeting Western audiences with disinformation well over a decade ago. For example, social media accounts run by Wagner were responsible for recruiting a group of Britons in late 2023. In the wake of that attack, European agencies have slowly painted a picture of a much larger network of Wagner's 'disposable agents' across Europe.