The Wagner Group is Russia’s main Private Military Contractor (PMC), a new term for the age-old concept of mercenary bands. Wagner had thousands on its payroll, sending them wherever Vladimir Putin, Russia’s leader wanted them. Many of its members had prior service in Russia’s elite forces, such as Spetsnaz or the airborne forces. Often, they supplied shock troops and reserve exploitation forces for operations. Wagner troops are often paid two or three times more than regular Russian soldiers, giving rise to envy and disdain among those they are present to support. When Russia deployed forces to Syria in 2015, Wagner mercenaries went along.
At their peak, Wagner maintained a substantial force in Syria with about 2,500 personnel. They organized into four battalion sized units, with three companies each. Within this ad hoc brigade were support units including a tank company equipped with T-72s, a reconnaissance company and an artillery battalion along with logistics units. Such a large force proved expensive to support, but in the first years of the deployment there was money to be made. For a time, the Wagner unit occupied pride of place in the Russian forces in Syria.
