Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 29
29
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 74
Wagner Network effectively reconfigures and its activities will continue due to value.
Conclusion
The last decade has shown that the Wagner Network is highly effective at reconfiguring itself. We expect its activities to continue in some form, as they are too valuable, especially financially, to the Russian state to be lost. The question is not just what happens to the Wagner Network but what happens to a wider set of PMCs in Russia which continue to have close and intimate relationships with Russian officials
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's assessment of the Wagner Network's adaptability and destabilizing impact, noting the broader trend of Russia using Private Military Security Companies as proxies. It commits to paying close attention to the network's evolution and exploiting opportunities to apply further pressure.
Paragraph Reference:
74
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
2. In recent years, Wagner has grown in importance, both for Russian foreign policy, and for many countries in which it operates. We agree with the Committee that it has had a destabilising impact, and that Russia’s use of Wagner could represent a wider shift towards the Kremlin using Private Military Security Companies (PMSCs) as proxies. 3. The failure of Wagner’s mutiny in late June has led to changes in the organisation, including the re-location of many of its personnel to Belarus and the loss of some important revenue sources inside Russia. 4. Wagner has continued to evolve since the Committee published its report on 26 July. Significantly, Yevgeny Prigozhin and other senior leaders of the group died in a plane crash on 23 August. This is likely to add to uncertainty for its members and may accelerate efforts by other organisations to replace it in some areas. 7. The Government will pay close attention to the repercussions of these events in the coming months, including how they play out across Wagner’s dispersed network in Africa. We agree with the Committee that we now have an opportunity to put further pressure on Wagner and other PMSCs. As the Committee proposes, we will continue to work bilaterally and multilaterally to help countries address the humanitarian, foreign and security policy challenges Russia and Wagner have exploited, as well as to highlight its track record of causing instability and atrocity. We have dedicated new resource to containing and countering Wagner and other Russian proxy PMSCs and are working closely with Allies to maximise our collective impact.