Researcher ORCID Identifier
0009-0009-8481-352X
Graduation Year
2023
Date of Submission
4-2023
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
International Relations
Reader 1
Hilary Appel
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
2023 Erik H Lohmus
Abstract
The Wagner Group has emerged as one of the most prominent actors of the on-going Russo-Ukrainian war. Although Private Military Companies are banned by the Russian Constitution and Russian Criminal Code, Wagner has been able and permitted to operate all across the world as a foreign policy tool of the Russian state. However, Wagner’s use and employment in Ukraine has differed drastically compared to Syria, Central African Republic and Libya, as the group is employed in a more conventional capacity. With many of the Russian successes in the east of Ukraine attributable to Wagner, the financier of the group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has started to use these successes to criticize the way the war is conducted, creating tensions in the Russian political sphere.
This paper examines the role that the Wagner Group has played in the Russo-Ukrainian war. Moreover, the paper focuses on how the Wagner Group evolved from a small contingent used for advancing foreign policy goals to a considerably large parallel military structure alongside the Russian Army with a great degree of autonomy and political leverage, ultimately projecting power and posing a potential threat to Russian political and military elites.
Recommended Citation
Lohmus, Erik Herbert, "The Role of the Wagner Group in the Russo-Ukrainian War" (2023). CMC Senior Theses. 3366.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3366
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Eastern European Studies Commons, International Relations Commons, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies Commons
