Immediately after the head of the PMC Wagner announced a “march against Moscow” at the end of June, in an attempt to lead a rebellion against the Kremlin, the Syrian authorities and the Russian military command took a number of operational measures against the “Wagnerians”. based in Syria, in order to prevent a rebellion from spreading. Reuters reported it on Friday, citing six people familiar with the matter.
The measures included blocking telephone lines, summoning a dozen Wagner commanders to a Russian military base, where the mercenaries were ordered to sign new contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense or leave Syria immediately. . This was told to Reuters by sources from the Syrian security forces and regional administrations.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to the confidentiality of the information. The Syrian government, Russian Defense Ministry and PMC Wagner did not respond to requests for comment.
Syrian authorities quickly subdued the mercenaries, fearing that the Kremlin, Damascus’ main military partner, was diverting its attention to events inside Russia, two Syrian sources familiar with the operation said.
“Wagner’s role in Syria – as he played it before – is over,” says Navar Shaban, a researcher at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies, an independent research group in Istanbul specializing in Syria. “Given the events, (PMC Wagner) relations with the Syrian Ministry of Defense are now over,” Shaban added.
Damascus has not publicly commented on the June 23-24 mutiny staged by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. However, senior Syrian military and intelligence officials have privately expressed concern that the insurgency could harm the Russian military presence in the country they have relied on for so long. This was notably said by a senior officer of the Syrian Republican Guard and a Syrian source close to the situation.
The presence of the Wagnerian group in Syria is relatively small, ranging from 250 to 450 people. This represents around 10% of all Russians stationed in Syria, two Syrian sources said. There are no official data on the strength of the Russian army in Syria.
Russia deployed its army to Syria in 2015 to help President Bashar al-Assad fight back against rebels.
Since then, Wagner PMC has repeatedly participated in combat missions and provided security for Syrian oil installations, with the first reports of Wagner soldiers killed in the country emerging in 2015.
For years, Moscow denied any connection to the PMC Wagner, but the group has publicly declared its involvement in the war against Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin, after suppressing the rebellion, confirmed that Prigozhin’s company had received state funding.
Immediately after the start of the Prigozhin Rebellion, a group of Russian military officers were quickly deployed to Syria to help take command of Wagner’s forces. This was said by a regional military source close to Damascus and two Syrian sources close to the events.
On the night of Friday, June 23, Syrian military intelligence cut landline and internet communication channels in areas where Wagner’s forces were deployed to prevent them from communicating with each other, with superiors in Russia and even with relatives in home, three sources said. .
On Saturday morning June 24, Syrian military intelligence and Russian defense officials were closely coordinating efforts to isolate and control Wagner fighters, a senior Republican Guard officer, a Syrian security source and two other people said. aware of the case.
About 10 Wagner PMC commanders stationed in Syria’s Homs province and other areas have been called to Russia’s Khmeimim operational base, according to a Republican Guard officer. The source clarified that this happened “in the early hours of the rebellion”.
Reuters was unable to establish what exactly the Russian military was talking about with the Wagnerians. The Russian Center for Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria, headquartered at the Khmeimim base, directs all media inquiries to the Russian Defense Ministry, which did not respond to requests for comment.
On June 24, Wagner fighters in Syria were asked to sign new contracts that would report directly to the Russian Defense Ministry. In addition, a decision has been made to cut their salaries, three knowledgeable sources said.
Those who refused to comply with the ultimatum were flown out of Syria by Russian military aircraft over the following days. A source said “dozens” of mercenaries had fled the country, surprising Syrian officials who expected many of them to remain in Syria.
Between June 25 and 27, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, a Russian military aircraft carried out at least three flights from Syrian Latakia to Bamako, the capital of the West African state of Mali, where also operate Wagner PMC mercenaries. Reuters was unable to establish whether PMC Wagner employees were on board the flights.
Malian authorities did not respond to a request for comment on the flights and confirmation of the transfer of Wagner personnel from Syria to Mali.
According to Syrian analysts and a retired Syrian military officer familiar with Russian mercenary activities, the PMC Wagner has already withdrawn many experienced mercenaries from Syria last year to fight in Ukraine.
The “Wagnerians” ensured the security of the Syrian oil fields. Western officials say Wagner is linked to Evro Polis, a company that profits from those assets. The EU imposed sanctions on this company in 2021.
The Khmeimim base served as a logistical hub for the transit of Wagner fighters to Libya and other countries in Africa, according to a Syrian security source and a Western diplomat based in the region.
“We are watching these Wagner operations, in turn, being thwarted,” the diplomat said.
Unlike other operations in Africa, where Wagner is more present and not under the control of the Russian military, his role in the war in Syria initially went unnoticed, as the course of the conflict did not managed to reverse course only with the help of Russian aircraft.
The details emerged gradually. In 2018, hundreds of Wagnerians were killed in clashes with the US military near the Syrian town of Deir ez-Zor.
After the Prigozhin rebellion, Syrian leaders quickly reaffirmed the importance of their military alliance with Russia.
Syrian First Lady Asma al-Assad flew to Russia a few days later to attend her son’s graduation from Moscow State University and was asked by a reporter if she was afraid to come given recent events.
“Our Russian friends did not hesitate to support us in our war. Therefore, we have not hesitated and will not hesitate to support them in their war,” she said.
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