The legacy and future of the Wagner Group

Thursday, September 21, 2023, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. EDT
Online: https://www.brookings.edu/events/the-legacy-and-future-of-the-wagner-group 

Russia’s Wagner Group, a network of private military, economic, political manipulation, and misinformation companies, achieved outsized impact in global geopolitics over the past decade. With the sales pitch of providing counterterrorism services and serving as a praetorian guard of regimes in power, the Wagner network promoted the Kremlin’s efforts in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to oppose the United States and the West. It also acquired valuable resources for Russia, established outposts of Russian influence, and contributed to Russia’s war on Ukraine, including the bloody battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut. Yet when Wagner’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin began threatening the Russian leadership, the Kremlin moved to decapitate and restructure the Wagner Group.

On September 21, the Brookings Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors and the Center on the United States and Europe will convene top experts to discuss Wagner’s military, political, economic, and misinformation operations, what restructuring of the group is underway, and what lies ahead for Russia’s proxy activities.

Audience Q&A will follow the moderated discussion. Viewers may submit questions for speakers via email to events@brookings.edu or via Twitter using #WagnerGroup.