Wagner's network of ex-soldiers marches in Murmansk
Dozens of men wearing insignia, flags and medals took part in a car rally commemorating fallen mercenaries from the Murmansk region, marking the 12th anniversary of the founding of the state-funded private military company Wagner.
Although the Russian Criminal Code prohibits private military companies, and the Kremlin moved to dismantle Wagner’s independent power after Yevgeny Prigozhin staged a brief mutiny against the Russian military in the 2023 rebellion, the group’s members are once again openly marching in Murmansk.
The event, widely promoted across major social media channels in Murmansk, took place on 1 May and was presented as a celebration of Wagner’s founding in 2014. The group, headed by Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, first emerged during the war in Donbas, where it fought against Ukrainian forces.
Exactly how many Wagner mercenaries from the Kola Peninsula have been killed on the battlefields of Ukraine, Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic or Mali is unknown. The car rally last Friday began at the cemetery in Murmashi south of Murmansk, where a video posted on social media (see below) by the group showed some of the names inscribed on the headstones.
Several stops were made at other war memorials as the convoy drove through Murmansk, with large Wagner flags and symbols of the official veterans’ organisation for Russia’s war against Ukraine, referred to by Russia as the “Special Military Operation”.
The rally ended at the 35-metre-tall Alyosha war monument, where participants, some wearing masks, laid flowers beside the eternal flame.
The Wagner Group’s military operations in Africa have now been restructured under the Defence Ministry’s control and rebranded as the Africa Corps.
Within Russia, including in Murmansk, former mercenaries are frequently brought into schools and universities to promote the war in Ukraine and encourage new recruits to sign contracts with the military.
Former Wagner fighters are also seen at memorials and placed prominently at official ceremonies such as the 9 May Victory Day parade, wearing paramilitary uniforms with various Wagner insignia.
Earlier this winter, the Financial Times reported that former operatives linked to the Wagner Group were helping Moscow recruit agents in Europe to carry out acts of sabotage.
According to a Western intelligence official speaking to the Financial Times, the Wagner operatives are tasked with identifying financially vulnerable individuals in Europe who may be willing to carry out acts of sabotage and violence.
