Wagner Group activities in Syria
The first reports of Wagner Group mercenaries in Syria appeared in late October 2015, just weeks after Russia began its military intervention. Between three and nine private contractors died when rebel mortar fire struck their position in Latakia province. The Russian Defense Ministry initially dismissed these early accounts as an information attack, yet sources within the FSB and Defense Ministry later confirmed that the GRU supervised the group's activities. These men flew into Syria on Russian military transport planes or arrived via Syrian Cham Wings airline flights from Rostov-on-Don Airport. A fleet known as the Syrian Express delivered their heavy equipment to the country starting in 2012.
By August 2016, the Kremlin had spent approximately 170 million dollars supporting these operations. During the March 2016 offensive to retake Palmyra, Wagner fighters served as shock troops alongside regular Syrian Army units. One contractor described the PMCs as cannon fodder while labeling the Syrian soldiers chickens who only finished the job after the mercenaries did the hard work. Thirty-two contractors were killed and about eighty wounded during this initial push. Following the victory, the group withdrew between April and May 2016, surrendering all their heavy weapons including T-72 tanks and BM-21 Grad MLRs.
The second battle for Palmyra began at the start of 2017 with a different reality. The PMCs faced a severe shortage of modern weaponry, receiving only older assault rifles, machine guns, T-62 tanks, and M-30 howitzers. Sniper rifles and grenade launchers arrived weeks later but failed to resolve the equipment gap. Casualties surged significantly compared to the first offensive, with estimates ranging from forty to sixty deaths and up to eighteen hundred injuries. The Conflict Intelligence Team attributed these losses to ISIL's heavy use of suicide bombers and their refusal to negotiate.
By July 2017, the Kremlin established a policy allowing companies that seized oil and gas wells or mines from ISIL forces to retain rights to those same sites. Two Russian companies received contracts under this arrangement by that time, with one employing Wagner Group personnel to secure the fields from militants. Reports indicated that the company would receive twenty-five percent of the proceeds from oil and gas production at any field captured and secured by its private contractors. These agreements with Damascus appeared after Wagner lost the trust and financing of the Russian Defense Ministry in early 2016.
As of early August 2017, the number of Wagner employees in Syria reached five thousand following the arrival of an additional two thousand men including Chechens and Ingush. The group helped train a Syrian Army unit called the ISIS Hunters which was fully funded and trained by Russian special forces. This unit played a leading role during the capture of the al-Shaer gas fields from ISIL in late April 2017 as part of the Eastern Homs offensive. By mid-September, the al-Shaer gas fields began returning to production while PMCs took charge of guarding the refineries.
ISIL occasionally attempted to retake the fields but were beaten back each time. During one specific attack, a PMC was tortured to death by the militants. The group remained responsible for securing the areas around the phosphate mines throughout July 2017 despite ongoing threats.
In early July 2017, a video emerged showing Wagner PMCs bludgeoning a man initially believed to be a captured ISIL militant near Palmyra. More than two years later, full footage uploaded to a closed VKontakte group asserted that the victim was actually Muhammad Abdullah al-Ismail, a Syrian Army soldier who had deserted. Ismail fled Syria earlier in the war for Lebanon before returning in 2017 after being arrested and forcibly conscripted into the military. After his killing, his body was mutilated and burned on camera alongside a second severed head lying on the ground.
Russian independent media identified Stanislav Yevgenyevich Dychko, a confirmed Wagner operative formerly with the Russian Interior Ministry, as one perpetrator. A second suspect was named Ruslan from Bryansk, currently working as a patriotic educator in local schools. Arab media located the murder at the al-Shaer oilfield near Homs. Further investigation by Russian media in December 2019 identified remaining perpetrators including Vladimir B., Dzhakhongyr M., Ruslan, and Vladislav Apostol who died in Syria in February 2018.
The Novaya Gazeta newspaper sent its investigative material regarding the killing to the Prosecutor General of Russia and the Investigative Committee but no criminal cases were opened. In March 2021, human rights lawyers representing the victim's brother filed a lawsuit in Moscow against six Wagner Group PMCs accused of the act. The Council of the European Union sanctioned Dmitry Utkin in December 2021 stating that a former member claimed Utkin personally ordered the torture and filming of the deserter.
At about 10 pm local time on the 7th of February 2018, a battle erupted near the Syrian town of Khasham between pro-government forces and Kurdish-led SDF units supported by the US military. During the clashes, American aircraft attacked Syrian troops resulting in the deaths of forty-five to one hundred government fighters. A Russian newspaper cited sources claiming pro-government forces attempted to capture the ConocoPhillips gas field from the SDF while US defense officials assessed that Russian PMCs participated in the assault with some contractors killed in air strikes.
On the 19th of February 2018, an analysis by Inform Napalm alleged the battle was planned by Sergey Kim, chief of Wagner's operations department and a former Russian Marine officer. An official statement from the ISIS Hunters unit stated they received intelligence that ISIL forces moved toward Khasham prompting government forces to shift positions along the Euphrates River. Armed groups spotted east of Khasham in SDF-held territory then attacked government troops before retreating toward the Conoco factory where pro-government units were hit by airstrikes.
Der Spiegel reported no Russians were present in either formation moving toward Khasham yet a small contingent of PMCs stationed in Al Tabiyeh did not participate in the fighting. The SOHR activist organization claimed Russian PMCs accompanying government forces were killed at Al Tabiyeh but not in air strikes as previously thought. Instead, they died in a booby-trapped explosion at an arms depot several days after the initial engagement.
As of late March 2018, the PMCs remained in the same area using local pro-government troops to scout coalition positions. Former members stated the battle at Khasham led to organizational changes where PMCs subsequently received only guard duties at local plants. On the 18th of February 2018, the Syrian military launched an offensive against rebel-held Eastern Ghouta splitting the region into three pockets by the 12th of March. One town captured during this time was Mesraba which rebels recaptured on the 18th of March before Wagner PMCs fully retook it overnight between 18 and the 19th of March.
Another mission involved securing a humanitarian corridor established by the Russian Reconciliation Center allowing civilians to leave rebel areas for government territory. By the 19th of March, 79,702 people had left rebel-held parts of Eastern Ghouta according to the center while the UN reported 50,000 had departed besieged areas. The whole Eastern Ghouta region fell to government forces on the 14th of April effectively ending the near seven-year rebellion near Damascus.
In mid-January 2020, tense standoffs began with US troops blocking Russian military vehicles from using the M4 highway in northeastern Syria. Almost half a dozen incidents occurred toward the end of that month as vehicles carrying Russian contractors were blocked deep inside territory patrolled by their military and the Kurdish-led SDF. As of early February, PMCs were posted at the frontline in the Al-Ghab Plain of Hama province.
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Common questions
When did the first reports of Wagner Group mercenaries in Syria appear?
The first reports of Wagner Group mercenaries in Syria appeared in late October 2015. These accounts emerged just weeks after Russia began its military intervention in the country.
How many Wagner contractors died during the March 2016 offensive to retake Palmyra?
Thirty-two contractors were killed and about eighty wounded during the initial push to retake Palmyra in March 2016. The group withdrew between April and May 2016 following this victory.
What policy did the Kremlin establish by July 2017 regarding oil and gas wells seized from ISIL forces?
By July 2017, the Kremlin established a policy allowing companies that seized oil and gas wells or mines from ISIL forces to retain rights to those same sites. One company received contracts under this arrangement and was entitled to receive twenty-five percent of the proceeds from oil and gas production at any field captured and secured by its private contractors.
Who was identified as one perpetrator of the murder of Muhammad Abdullah al-Ismail near Palmyra?
Russian independent media identified Stanislav Yevgenyevich Dychko, a confirmed Wagner operative formerly with the Russian Interior Ministry, as one perpetrator. A second suspect named Ruslan from Bryansk was also identified working as a patriotic educator in local schools.
How many government fighters died during the battle near Khasham on the 7th of February 2018?
American aircraft attacks resulted in the deaths of forty-five to one hundred government fighters during the clashes near Khasham on the 7th of February 2018. US defense officials assessed that Russian PMCs participated in the assault with some contractors killed in air strikes.