ByNews Desk- The Cradle
The Kremlin is reportedly cracking down on Wagner fighters following last weekend's failed coup attempt by Yevgeny Prigozhin
Wagner, which has played a crucial role in Russia’s current war against Ukraine, previously participated alongside the Russian air force in the battles to defeat ISIS on behalf of Damascus between 2015 and 2018.
Prigozhin’s forces remained in Syria after the war to guard vital oil infrastructure.
In the hours after Wagner forces halted their advance on Moscow, Prigozhin was exiled to Belarus following a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the same time, Russia’s deputy foreign minister flew to Damascus to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and take control of Wagner forces there.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin urged Assad to stop Wagner fighters from leaving Syria without Moscow’s oversight, sources speaking with the WSJ said. President Assad’s office issued a statement after the meeting, said they discussed coordination, especially in “light of recent events.”
Wagner fighters were then ordered to the Hmeimim air base, run by Russia’s Defense Ministry and close to its warm-water naval base in the Syrian port city of Latakia.
Middle East Eye (MEE) reports that Wagner Group fighters in Syria were detained, and their offices raided. However, a Telegram channel linked to Wagner said that none of the group’s fighters had been detained.
Syrian officials told RT that investigations were being carried out as “a precautionary measure.”
Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hadath TV said they also arrested three of Wagner’s officers, one of whom is a lieutenant colonel. Two colonels were reportedly detained in Hmeimim.
Waiel Olwan, an Istanbul-based Syrian analyst, told Al-Hadath that Wagner members did not rebel against Russian forces in Syria and that Wagner took orders from Russian military police in Syria.
Reports also emerged that Prigozhin carried out the mutiny against Moscow in part out of anger toward Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian General Valery Gerasimov, which dates back to a 2018 battle for the Conoco Gas fields in Syria’s eastern Deir Ezzor governorate.
In 2016, Russian and Syrian forces launched a campaign to defeat ISIS in eastern Syria, attacking the so-called Caliphate from the south and west of the Euphrates River.
US planners had abandoned their previous support for ISIS and partnered with local Kurdish separatist militias to defeat ISIS from the north and east of the Euphrates in a race against Russia and Syria to conquer the oil-rich territory controlled by the extremist group.
In February 2018, a combined Wagner-Syrian army force of some 400 crossed the Euphrates to attack the US and Kurdish-held Conoco Gas Plant near Deir Ezzor.
US air power quickly targeted The Wagner-Syrian army force and suffered what the Washington Post described as a “stunning slaughter” at the hands of reaper drones, F-22 stealth jets, B-52 bombers, and Apache helicopter gunships.
The loss of dozens of Wagner fighters in a single night in Syria angered Prigozhin, who claimed his soldiers and their Syrian comrades were supposed to receive air support from the Russian military. But that support was allegedly blocked by Defense Minister Shoigu and General Gerasimov, allowing Prigozhin’s fighters to become US cannon fodder.
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