Close

Uncovering the Wagner Group: A Hidden Paramilitary Network

View as PDF

DONBAS, UKRAINE - FEBRUARY 24: Ukrainian replacement troops go through combat training on February 24, 2023 in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. According to the group's commander, the unit was badly depleted in recent weeks of vicious fighting against Russian Wagner mercenary forces, losing more than half its combat strength due to wounded and killed in action. He said that although his troops routinely decimate large groups of enemy forces, who attack his frontline positions in wave after wave of frontal assaults, the Russians still inflict significant damage. Fresh Ukrainian recruits are now being quickly trained, so the unit can return to the frontline at full strength. One year ago, Russia's military invaded Ukraine from three sides and launched airstrikes across the country. Since then, Moscow has withdrawn from north and central parts of Ukraine, focusing its assault on the eastern Donbas region, where it had supported a separatist movement since 2014.
Photo via John Moore/Getty Images

In 2025, New America’s Future Frontlines program continued its deep investigation into the Wagner Group, a shadowy Russian paramilitary organization operating on multiple continents. While Wagner has long cultivated a narrative of being a private military company, Future Frontlines’s work systematically dismantles that myth by tracing its true structure, networks, and ties to Russian military and intelligence entities.

The investigation—presented as part of a public series and ongoing research—reveals Wagner not as a standalone private force but as a complex web of special forces veterans, intelligence officers, and business interests integrated closely with Russian state power. A unique open-source reporting project, the team’s analysis has been crucial in redefining how journalists, analysts, and policymakers understand Wagner’s operational reach in Ukraine, Africa, and the Middle East. This evidence-based transparency work supports more informed debate on global security, state accountability, and the role of authoritarian proxies in modern conflict.

Close