Page:Seventh Report - Guns for gold- the Wagner Network exposed.pdf/9

Rh although best-known—are not representative of the network’s wider spectrum of operations globally. Relative to other countries, the purpose, scale and nature of Wagner’s involvement in Ukraine are unique.

6. Given the scope of our inquiry, this report focuses primarily (but not exclusively) on the network’s military activities and the actions of ‘Wagner fighters’. The network’s military deployments raise questions over how hostile and competitor states may use commercial entities for offensive and deniable military operations in future and the implications for UK interests, the conduct of war and the rules-based international order (paragraphs 76–91)

7. The Wagner Network was set up in 2014 by individuals close to the Russian military establishment, with the reported involvement of former GRU leader Dmitry Utkin. In September 2022, after many years’ obfuscation, including efforts to sue individuals linking him to the organisation, Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted that he founded Wagner. The network’s fighters began their first known military activities in late 2014 in Ukraine, after Russia invaded the east of the country. At this point, the idea of a “more structured” and “proxy actor” for the Russian state was attractive, due to its limited responsibilities (relative to the Russian army) and its “deniability in case of failure or of excesses”. The Dossier Center, an investigative NGO, has said of Wagner fighters that: