"Civilian Massacre Concerns"... Russia Deploys Notorious Mercenary Unit to Frontline

Wagner Group's Notorious Civilian Attacks
"Syrian Mercenaries Join War for Money"

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Yeeun] As 1,000 troops from the Russian mercenary company Wagner Group, closely associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with elite Syrian fighters, are gathering on the Ukrainian battlefield, concerns over civilian casualties are growing.

The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 31st (local time) that about 1,000 Wagner Group mercenaries and 300 members of the Syrian special forces unit known as the "Tiger Battalion" will be deployed to the front lines.

First revealed during Russia's 2014 military annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, the Wagner Group is a mercenary unit notorious for attacking civilians and looting.

The Wagner Group was founded by Dmitry Utkin, a former commander of Russian special forces who fought in the Chechen wars, but the actual operator is known to be Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close aide to President Putin. He owns a company that supplies food for various Kremlin events and is nicknamed "Putin's chef."

The Wagner Group, which is also on the U.S. government sanctions list, has strongly displayed neo-Nazi tendencies. According to foreign media, founder Utkin enjoys Nazi-related tattoos and named the group after Richard Wagner, a composer favored by Adolf Hitler, the F?hrer of Nazi Germany.

Wagner mercenaries are known to carry out not only combat missions but also looting of oil and minerals on the battlefield at their employer's request. Their main areas of operation include Syria, Libya, Sudan, and Mali in the Middle East and Africa.

John Kirby, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense, stated that about 1,000 Wagner mercenaries are already active in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine.

According to a report submitted to the United Nations Security Council last year, the Wagner Group shot at trucks in the Central African Republic in 2020, killing three civilians. They also attacked mosques (Islamic places of worship), killing at least six civilians, and looted money and motorcycles from residential areas.

Syrian soldiers are smiling while holding a portrait of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the Eastern Ghouta area near Damascus, the capital of Syria, on May 26 last year.
Photo by AP Yonhap News

Meanwhile, 300 anti-terrorism fighters from the Syrian Army's 25th Special Forces Unit, deployed to the Ukrainian front at Russia's request, have also joined as mercenaries.

NYT cited Syrian sources saying, "Tiger Battalion members receive $1,200 (about 1.46 million KRW) per month, a $3,000 bonus upon completing combat, and $2,800 (about 3.4 million KRW) paid to families in case of death, with these payment terms included in their contracts."

The Tiger Battalion consists of elite militia skilled in counter-terrorism, known to have operated alongside Russian special forces during the Syrian civil war and are familiar with Russian-style combat tactics. Intelligence reports indicate that thousands of reserve mercenaries recruited by war brokers across Syria are currently awaiting selection by security authorities.

Bassam Alahmad, head of "Syrians for Truth and Justice," which tracks Syrian mercenary activities, said, "Money is the biggest motivation." He explained that the combat pay for elite troops in Syria is about $100 per month, making the amount offered by Russia twelve times higher.

President Putin supported President Sheikh Muhammad al-Assad during the Syrian civil war in 2011, backing pro-government militias.

The Geneva Conventions, international war treaties, do not classify mercenary support as a war crime, but there is a separate UN treaty that does. Ukraine has signed this treaty, but Russia has not.

Sorcha MacLeod, a member of the UN Working Group on Mercenaries, criticized, "What we are seeing is the recruitment of looters," adding, "Syria is exploiting its dire socio-economic conditions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.