Whatever Happened to Russia’s Wagner Group?

A much-feared mercenary outfit has a new brand — and a familiar mission.

A man holds a flag bearing the logo of Private Military Company (PMC) Wagner Group in Niamey, Niger on August 26, 2023. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

By Hollie McKay

Hollie McKay is a writer, war crimes investigator, and the author of “Only Cry for the Living: Memos from Inside the ISIS Battlefield.” (Jocko Publishing/Di Angelo Publications 2021). She was an investigative and international affairs/war correspondent for Fox News Digital for over fourteen years, where she focused on war, terrorism, and crimes against humanity.

DEEP DIVE — More than a year after the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the infamous leader of the shadowy Russian mercenary outfit known as the Wagner Group, the organization itself lives on. It’s been rebranded and reorganized, but the group is back in action.

Wagner 2.0 now functions under the name “Expeditionary Corps,” sometimes used interchangeably with “Volunteer Corps” and – in its Africa operations – “Africa Corps.” And whatever name it uses, the group no longer operates with an independent hand; it’s now under the direct control of the Kremlin’s military intelligence wing, the GRU. 

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