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The following references may be useful when improving this article in the future: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2021/11/17/inside-wagnergate-ukraines-brazen-sting-operation-to-snare-russian-mercenaries/ https://meduza.io/en/news/2021/12/13/eu-sanctions-wagner-pmc-over-human-rights-violations-in-ukraine-syria-and-libya

This article has been viewed enough times in a single week to appear in theTop 25 Report3 times. The weeks in which this happened: June 18 to 24, 2023 June 25 to July 1, 2023 August 20 to 26, 2023

Section sizes Section size forWagner Group (42 sections) Section name Byte count Prose size (words) Header Total Header Total (Top) 47,762 47,762 425 425 Origins and leadership 1,544 16,531 81 609 Yevgeny Prigozhin 7,081 7,081 152 152 Dmitry Utkin 6,819 6,819 237 237 Konstantin Pikalov 1,087 1,087 139 139 Organization 12,427 38,971 470 1,529 Recruitment, training, techniques 14,991 14,991 690 690 Recruitment of non-Russians 313 313 30 30 Units 12 11,240 0 339 Rusich unit 6,156 6,156 119 119 Serb unit 5,072 5,072 220 220 Relationship with the Russian state 23,859 30,972 896 1,216 Wagner Group rebellion 7,113 7,113 320 320 Activities 543 89,604 51 4,140 Ukraine 1,013 37,597 105 1,434 Crimea annexation and War in Donbas 14,715 14,715 482 482 Full-scale invasion of Ukraine since 2022 21,869 21,869 847 847 Syria 10,597 10,597 302 302 Africa 5,300 28,774 306 1,661 Sudan 5,452 5,452 330 330 Central African Republic 7,318 7,318 470 470 Libya 4,253 4,253 256 256 Mali 6,451 6,451 299 299 Venezuela 2,348 2,348 188 188 Belarus 9,745 9,745 504 504 Possible activities 24 18,903 0 1,132 Nagorno-Karabakh 5,042 5,042 284 284 Burkina Faso 8,155 8,155 450 450 Other 5,682 5,682 398 398 Casualties 20,186 20,186 256 256 Sanctions 8,832 8,832 335 335 Plane crash 3,995 3,995 220 220 Far-right elements 6,780 6,780 217 217 Awards and honors 9,101 9,101 506 506 Post-Yevgeny Prigozhin's death 2,889 3,839 151 234 Nationalization of Wagner Group 950 950 83 83 Notable members 723 723 0 0 See also 96 96 0 0 Notes 48 48 0 0 Citations 27 27 0 0 Further reading 4,750 4,750 0 0 External links 1,165 1,165 0 0 Total 302,285 302,285 10,819 10,819

There is no info presented here about the groups activities after 20232A02:587:E83F:DEAA:10B3:9D14:330A:1B94 (talk)16:47, 6 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Because they are only still active in Belarus and the CAR. Everywhere else they joined either the Akhmat Special Forces or the MoD's Africa Corps.EkoGraf (talk)13:13, 30 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Should the group's far-right association be mentioned somewhere in the article lead? --TylerBurden (talk)21:05, 5 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yes This is something that not only is covered on the article and in line withWP:LEAD, but also has significant wider coverage inWP:RS. We do not shy away from including these links of different groups involved in the Russia-Ukraine war, such as theAzov Brigade, so I don't see how it'sWP:DUE to make Wagner an exception.TylerBurden (talk)21:07, 5 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

No It's been documented that the organization as a whole is not far-right and is not ideologically driven, but a mercenary organization (driven by profit). Rather, one of it's commanders is alleged to be far-right and one of its sub-units has been described as far-right, but this represents only a few hundred people out of 50,000-85,000 that Wagner had at its peak. The few far-right elements are already explained on in-depth in the main body of the article. The previous discussion on excluding this mention in the lead can be found here[1] where consensus was that it should not be in the lead. Editors from that discussion should be included in this new RfC in case they have changed their minds or have something new to add to the discussion. @Jabbi @Srijanx22 @Slatersteven @LouMichel @Mhorg. PS If a new consensus is found to re-instate the mention of the far-right elements, the sentence that was previously used in the lead and formulated through a previous consensus should be used once again (with sources).EkoGraf (talk)23:02, 5 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It's probably going to be difficult for Mhorg (who argued the links should not be included) to participate, given that they are topic banned from Eastern Europe, broadly construed. Also noting these arguments are not based on policy or guidelines, the discussion is not about saying that the Wagner Group is one thing or the other, but mentioning in the lead what is extensively featured in the article itself as you yourself mention.

PerWP:LEAD: ″The lead should stand on its own as a concise overview of the article's topic. It should identify the topic, establish context, explain why the topic is notable, and summarize the most important points, including any prominent controversies.″ Wagner's far-right associations are certainly a prominent controversy, and an important feature of the article. It makes no sense hiding it from readers looking for a neutral overview.TylerBurden (talk)19:23, 6 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

My concern with saying they are "not ideologically driven" because they are "driven by profit" is that, in my opinion, a capitalistic, for-profit, greed-driven mindset is ideological. Most things in this world are ideological in some way (they are driven by a certain worldview) even if the ideology is implicit or unconscious and not overt.LouMichel (talk)19:22, 13 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yes as it seems to be plenty of RS have made the connection, and (as pointed out) there is an issue of party here. Ther is also a question mark (to my mind) if it was ever really a mercenary organization so much as an unofficial branch of the Russian armed forces.Slatersteven (talk)08:43, 6 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

No. The group obviouslyis in a meaningful sense right wing, in that it is aligned with the Putin regime; but describing it as a far-right group (or "far-right–associated group", which is scrupulous at the cost of being weaselly) in the lead gives the impression that Wagner is more ideological than I think it is. You may argue that the ideology is implicit: Wagner isintentionally silent on ideological questions precisely to conceal, or to make deniable, its far-right ideology; but I think it has to matter that the group doesn't have an explicit political program. Compare to a group like theRed Brigades, which couldn't do anything without telling everyone what its political objectives were. Not in the lead, I think.Regulov (talk)13:06, 6 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Edit: Yes. Per TylerBurden, below. I see no reason the edit TylerBurden proposes shouldn't stand.Regulov (talk)01:09, 7 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, the proposal is not to describe the group in Wikivoice in the immediate lead as far-right, but to include the far-right elements somewhere fitting.

An example would be the edit I initially made which changed the following sentence:

"Wagner operatives have been accused of war crimes including murder, torture, rape and robbery of civilians, as well as torturing and killing accused deserters."

to

"Wagner members have been linked to thefar-right,and have been accused ofwar crimes including murder, torture, rape and robbery of civilians."

Perhaps I should have been more clear about this.TylerBurden (talk)19:30, 6 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I can live with that.Regulov (talk)01:07, 7 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If it's just in that form, I also have no problem with it, but only if other editors agree as well.EkoGraf (talk)13:03, 7 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

No. The Group is a money driven mercenary org.Mr.User200 (talk)17:07, 7 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• No - It is a group made up of paid mercenaries as per the reliable sources. There is no particular ideology that plays a significant role in their activities.Koshuri^(グ)05:34, 10 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  Apparently the ideology of Wagner members have played enough of a significant role for reliable sources to extensively cover them, keep in mind thatWP:CON isn't a vote, so making blanket statements like "they're just paid mercs, nothing to see here" is not in line with basic Wikipedia policy likeWP:NPOV, given that it is Wikipedia's duty to cover topics based on prominence inWP:RS, not editor opinion. It would be a more fruitful discussion and better conditions for the eventual closer to see the arguments of both sides if you could provide some actually policy backed arguments.TylerBurden (talk)16:54, 10 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Yes, it's an entire section in the body, so it's reasonable to get a brief mention in the lead. The objections people make (that it's notentirely far-right; that they're driven by profit, etc) can be included as part of that mention - obviously we shouldn't, and don't need to, say that they're entirely far-right! But those facts don't contradict the existence of far-right elements, and given that they have enough coverage to justify an entire section, a single brief sentence in the lead noting them seems reasonable. --Aquillion (talk)14:04, 10 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
• No - This has been discussed before too. This mercenary group has no political ideology. Those citiing sources should know that no sources before 2022 speculated their political ideology.Shankargb (talk)15:27, 11 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  Not only do you appear to have missed the point, which is not to state that it has a political ideology, but that it has been associated with the far-right through members like its alleged founderDmitry Utkin, the Neo-Nazi who gave the unit its name, but your statement about sources prior to 2022 not discussing Wagner's ideology is false. The spike in sources in 2022 also isn't strange when you consider Wagner being used as a "de-nazifying" force, naturally academics might take interest in alleged Nazis being used to "denazify" other alleged Nazis, so if this is meant to be some sort of "gotcha" saying that these allegations only exist because of their participation in the invasion of Ukraine, I would strongly disagree.

  Here are two sources from before 2022 I was able to find just by taking a quick look at the article.

  Signs of Neo-Nazi Ideology Amongst Russian Mercenaries

  The Wagner Group Files

  They were already showing these signs in the Middle East years before the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.TylerBurden (talk)19:28, 19 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

2021 [[2]] 2018 [[3]]There are other sources as well.Slatersteven (talk)15:33, 11 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure why defunct NKR(artsakh) is considered partially recognized, it was never recognized by any member of UN109.205.160.172 (talk)05:15, 4 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Some unrecognised and partially recognised states had done so, including Transnistria, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Various sub-national governments, including several U.S. states, had issued calls for recognition of Artsakh by their national governments. Also it was a member of the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations.Slatersteven (talk)09:17, 4 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

As shown in the Mali war article, Wagner left Mali around June-July of this year (though the Africa Corps remains).Remikipedia (talk)07:33, 24 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Feel free to provide the references if you're suggesting a change to the article.TylerBurden (talk)18:07, 24 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

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