Russia’s Wagner Group went from being a relative unknown to a household name after its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, led a short-lived armed rebellion that appeared to take Russian President Vladimir Putin by surprise.
“This probably has done some damage to Putin politically,” said George Beebe, director of grand strategy at the Quincy Institute.
Ukraine is not the only arena the Wagner Group operates in. What happens to these other ventures now remains unclear. The Wagner Group has several business interests in countries such as the Central African Republic, and it could be difficult for the Russian state to replicate or take over those endeavors from scratch.
“The resources that they generally go after are precious metals,” said Raphael Parens, a fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia Program. “Because it’s relatively easy to export and relatively easy to smuggle.”
Watch the video above to find out more about what comes next for the Wagner Group and whether Russian President Vladimir Putin can contain the fallout from the mercenary rebellion.