The Wagner Group’s presence extends from Syria to Africa, projecting the Kremlin’s global influence with mercenaries accused of using brutal force. But that was under Yevgeny Prigozhin. In what may have been his final recruitment video, Prigozhin boasted that Wagner is “making Russia even greater on all continents and Africa even more free.” A private jet carrying Prigozhin and his top lieutenants crashed northwest of Moscow on Wednesday, two months after he led a rebellion that weakened the authority of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The crash has raised questions about the Wagner Group's future. Officials and commentators in African countries where Russian mercenaries had a presence predicted Moscow would likely place them under new leadership.
