No, he hasn’t been revived; he’s still dead and buried. Just, perhaps, reincarnated . . . sort of. You see, there’s his 25-year-old son, Pavel Prigozhin, who now has stepped forward as the possible successor to his late father, Yevgeny, as head of the Wagner Group of mercenaries. Remember them?

Of course, you do. They’re the ones who began a march to the Kremlin last June in support of Yevgeny’s criticism of the Russian military’s handling of the war in Ukraine. They didn’t quite make it, though; the march was mysteriously halted, Yevgeny more or less fell off the radar for a while, and no one could figure out what to do with the suddenly leaderless Wagner troops. Thousands of violent, brutal, military-trained thugs, many of them hardened criminals recruited from Russia’s vast prison system, more or less at large somewhere in Russia. Or Belarus. Or maybe Crimea, which is either part of Russia or Ukraine, depending on whom you ask. (It’s Ukraine, actually.) Some of the Wagner troops were already on various assignments in Africa and the Middle East, which is a whole other part of the story, but totally relevant to today’s news.

And today’s news is that, according to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. intelligence has reason to believe that the Wagner Group may be about to provide anti-aircraft weaponry to . . . are you ready for this? . . . Hezbollah! Yes, that Hezbollah: the Lebanese, Iranian-backed equivalent of Hamas — the same Hamas that recently invaded Israel and started a war.

So how does this concern a Russian PMC (Private Military Company)? Well, they’re mercenaries. Which means they’ll work for anyone who will pay them. And the dirtier the work, the better. This raises two disturbing questions: first, who actually controls Wagner now; and second, why are they so interested, and involved, in the most recent Arab-Israeli conflict?

Apparently, Pavel Prigozhin will inherit much of his father’s substantial wealth. It has also been rumored for some time that he will stand as successor to the Wagner Group. Wagner has begun openly recruiting fighters again, three months after the unexplained private plane crash that killed its leader. According to a report from 59.RU, a regional news outlet based in Perm, Russia, and as confirmed by a Wagner member in Perm, the fighters are led by young Pavel. A similar report has also come from news outlet NGS.RU, based in Novosibirsk, citing a source inside Wagner’s local branch. And a Telegram channel affiliated with Wagner, Prigozhin 2023, has also spoken of Pavel as the future leader of the organization. [Business Insider, Nov. 2, 2023.]

But . . .

Remember, this is Russia, where there is always a “but.” But . . . “recruitment was suspended on Wednesday evening [November 1st], according to the accounts, which did not specify why.” [Business Insider, Nov. 2, 2023.] It has for some time been expected that the Russian Ministry of Defense would assume control of the Group’s men and resources, and Western intelligence has reported that the Ministry is trying to restructure Wagner.

However, both NGS.RU and 59.RU have reported that Wagner has been absorbed into the Rosgvardiya, the Russian National Guard, which reports directly to Vladimir Putin on matters of internal security. And the Russian news site Military Review has likewise reported that Wagner would continue its operations as a division of Rosgvardiya, with Wagner’s Perm office writing the same on their social media accounts as further confirmation.

Ministry of Defense . . . National Guard. Potato . . . potahto. Whichever one takes control of Wagner Group, how will it affect Pavel Prigozhin’s position vis-a-vis his leadership role? That does not appear to have been clarified as yet . . . at least, not publicly. Does he even have the experience, the training, or the toughness required to do the job as his father did? That, too, remains to be seen.

*. *. *

As for the second question — what Russia and Wagner have to do with two Islamic terror groups and their war against Israel — that’s easy: Russia needed a distraction from its “special military operation” in Ukraine in order to pull worldwide military support away from Ukraine, thus easing the way to a Russian victory there. In addition, Russia and its current best friend China have welcomed the opportunity to offer their services as arbitrators of a peaceful settlement in the Middle East. To accomplish this, Russia has long built up its relationships with numerous countries in both Africa and the Middle East, and most recently with Iran, with whom it has forged agreements for the swapping of advanced, military-grade weapons and technology. And Iran, of course, is a known supporter of both Hamas and Hezbollah. Strange bedfellows, indeed.

On its part, China has been busily attempting to expand its economic and diplomatic influence abroad. President Xi Jinping recently welcomed to Beijing a gathering of world leaders and delegations, notably excluding the United States, but at which Vladimir Putin was the honored guest and keynote speaker. It was a rare travel opportunity for him in many months, as he has stayed close to home while under threat of an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court following his invasion of Ukraine. China, of course, would not honor the warrant, and the visit — which gave the two leaders a unique opportunity to meet privately — speaks to the growing closeness of the two nations.

And why do Russia and China want so badly to step into the Middle Eastern quagmire that no one else has been able to resolve? Well, simply to lay the groundwork for the first steps to their proposed “New World Order,” displacing the Western nations — and particularly the United States — as world leaders, with themselves at the helm of their own, supposedly Utopian, version of a peaceful, orderly world. Goodbye, Democracy; hello, Big Brother.

I can’t speak for you, of course . . . but this scares the hell out of me.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
11/3/23