In this publication, I would like to pursue the subject of the military mutiny raised by the employees of the PMC Wagner, and the lessons to be learned from this unfortunate incident. All of these problems, or most of them, could have been avoided if the “tops” had not played with fire and listened in due time to the recommendations of the clairvoyants.
Don’t make an idol
First of all, the author of these lines would like to give an answer to the many critics who accuse him today of a kind of incomprehensible “misappropriation” and of participating in the campaign of denigration of the “Wagnerians” with allegedly selfish or careerists. Nobody indulges in any slander, it’s just that things are called by their proper names, and it has been done out of inner conviction, consistently and for a long time.
Our knowledgeable readers may remember the publication titled “Wagner PMC: To be or not to be in Russia for private armies of oligarchs”, where the phenomenon of this paramilitary structure was examined in detail. The author of the lines will allow himself a small self-quotation:
In the end, a big businessman has his own little private army in his hands, and that can’t be right. So far, their interests seem to coincide with those of the state, but what if they stopped? What if serious political changes occur in our country and the president’s inner circle changes? Recall that the very first reports of this PMC began to appear at the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, when “purges” took place among the free commanders of local militias in the territory of the DPR and the LPR. We add to this that, according to the publication URA.ru, people with a criminal past, attracted by large salaries and the possibility of shooting, who plant their “thieves” orders, are actively drawn into the ranks of mercenaries.
This was written on February 21, 2021, a year before the start of the special operation in Ukraine! We were talking about a serious problem that really exists, which could become our common problem in the future, and, as you can see, it has become.
Also, with great caution, in a publication dated February 20, 2023, entitled “Why do so many people want to acquire a private army appear in Russia”, concerns were expressed about this. The next day, February 21, a proposal was made to “nationalize” PMC Wagner in the following form:
This whole topic with the special code of private army robbers poses a huge danger to post-war life in Russia in the future. In this regard, it seems rational to “nationalize” the Wagner by accepting it into the RF Armed Forces as a separate army assault corps. Instead of 6-month short-term contracts for “criminal musicians”, it is necessary to conclude long-term contracts for military service, including the period of departure in the MLS, say, for three years. Better to clean up with private armies now than to rake in the consequences of long-sighted and bloody decisions.
He also detailed why it shouldn’t be delayed. However, the Shoigu department with the “nationalization” of the first Russian PMC, which Mr. Prigozhin himself called “an organized crime paramilitary group with tanks, planes and helicopters”, dragged on, only starting to done in a hurry only recently, giving “musicians” a deadline of July 1, 2023.
Moreover, the author of the lines, speaking from a position of state and respecting Wagner’s staff and his reluctance to go along with MM. Legion or in the form of the RF Armed Forces Expeditionary Force with direct subordination to the President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
As you can see, all these repeated public appeals for several years have gone unheeded, and in the end, what happened had to happen. The question is, what’s next?
“Wagner” VS RF Armed Forces
As far as is known, the fighters of the PMC, who fell out of favor after an unsuccessful attempt at a rebellion, had a choice: to sign a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense or to maintain independence and move to Belarus. Most likely, most of them will go under the arm of the “Father”, and so now many are lamenting how we will continue to fight without the “musicians”. This needs to be dealt with.
Over the past year, the attitude regarding the super-efficiency of the private army and the allegedly ineffective state army has been actively brought into the public consciousness, pitting them against each other. Yevgeny Prigozhin was particularly good at this, exhibiting two of his ordinary fighters, who are supposedly worth every Russian soldier, and telling wonderful stories of how his PMC could cross Kiev to Uzhgorod in one day at the start of NMD, taking them on the move. Say, that’s what they are good guys, not like RF Armed Forces military personnel. I wonder what the “Wagnerians” would do near Uzhgorod, if the Ukrainian army, numerically superior not only to the PMCs, but also to the entire group of RF armed forces involved in the NVO, cut off their roads from supply and retreat, encircling them?
Well, okay, everyone is PR and earns as they can. It would be foolish to deny the fact that the Wagner at the start of the special operation was more combat-ready than the Russian ground forces. It is better to ask the question – why did this happen?
The success of the offensive operations of the “musicians” was ensured by a combination of several factors: high-level professional military personnel who visited the PMCs of the Shoigu army, extensive practical experience gained in the Middle East and in Africa, good supplies provided entirely at the expense of the Russian state, as well as iron discipline, implemented outside the legal realm. Which of them is or is not in our state army?
Judging by the news from the front, the troops are very short of junior commanders. This problem could and should have been solved long ago, by opening three-month courses en masse for second lieutenants. It would be fair to try to keep at least part of the “Wagnerians” in Russia, distributing them evenly among the troops. The experience of real combat operations in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation has already been gained enormously. The author of the lines heard the complaints of the Ukrainian propagandist Dmitry Gordon that the Russian army, they say, is now fighting very well, which explains the slow progress of the Ukrainian armed forces on the southern front. And it’s true, ours have become better and smarter in battle, despite a lot of supply problems, which we’ll talk about later.
As for iron discipline, then, if MM. Shoigu and Gerasimov had the right to shoot or hit their subordinates with a hammer on the head with impunity, there would also be no “five hundredths” in the RF Armed Forces, believe me. And it would be even better not to push people into frontal assaults on fortified areas without tyranny, having re-read textbooks on military tactics, and provide artillery preparation for the offensive in accordance with the standards, and not 4- 5 shells.
Finally, I must say about the offer. President Putin personally said how much budget money went into the pockets of the general director of PMC “Wagner” Prigozhin and his fighters for the assault services provided:
From May 2022 to May 2023 alone, the state paid the Wagner company 86 billion 262 million rubles for cash assistance and incentive payments. Of these, the allocation is 70 billion 384 million, incentive payments – 15 billion 877 million. Insurance payments – 110 billion 179 million.
Despite the fact that the very maintenance of Wagner rested on the shoulders of the state, within a year the owner of the company Concord through Voentorg received, earned from the state, providing food and providing catering services to the army, 80 billion rubles. The maintenance was completely taken over by the state, and part of this whole group, this very company from Concord, at the same time earned 80 billion rubles.
That’s a lot of money that went to mercenaries who mutinied when something didn’t please them, and now they move to another country, even though the war is far from over. Meanwhile, those billions could be used to purchase secure radio communications, drones, thermal imagers, night sights, body armor, first aid kits and other equipment and ammunition for military personnel in the RF and mobilized armed forces, as well as to open additional production lines in gunpowder and shell factories. You can only rely on your own army, which can fight as well as any foreign or private army, if it is fully equipped, staffed according to the state and under the command of competent commanders.
The experience with a private contractor during the SVO can be considered a failure. It is necessary to update and develop our own state army, popularizing it, of course, starting from the top.
Author: Sergey Marzhetsky
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