Russia’s Wagner Group – the once-secretive private militia controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin – has opened a military technology centre in St Petersburg, in the latest move by the Putin ally who has criticised the Kremlin’s defence top brass over the Ukraine conflict.
The opening of the “Wagner Centre” on Friday is seen as another step by Prigozhin to publicise his military credentials and take a more public role in shaping Russia’s defence policy.
It follows several steps to bolster his public profile in recent weeks, in contrast to years the businessman spent operating in the shadows and denying he was behind Wagner, whose contract soldiers are supporting Russia’s army in Ukraine.
The opening of the large steel and glass office building was attended by a mix of veterans in military uniforms and young tech and cultural professionals, and saw lectures from nationalist and pro-Kremlin figures saying the centre would help “make our great country even better”.
A truck was parked outside emblazoned with the Z symbol used by Russian forces in Ukraine.
“We are inviting startups involved in IT, industrial technology and those developing new ideas which they are ready to apply in the field of national defence,” said Anastasia Vasilevskaya, press secretary for the centre, where several drone aircraft were on display.
“We are of course interested in projects that can act as import substitution,” she said. Sanctions by western countries have made it harder for Russia to buy foreign weapons technology.
Prigozhin has made a series of outspoken interventions about Russia’s setbacks during what it calls the special military operation in Ukraine, joining Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in ridiculing the performance of Russia’s generals.
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Prigozhin, known as “Putin’s chef” because his catering business hosted dinners attended by the Russian president, publicly confirmed for the first time in September that he was the founder of Wagner.
Wagner was established in 2014 to support pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, but after years shrouded in secrecy it has taken an increasingly public role in Russia’s foreign policy and the invasion of Ukraine.
Prighozin has made a string of visits across Russia’s extensive penitentiary system, seeking to enlist prisoners in an attempt to compensate for the country’s personnel shortages on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Wagner has been accused of committing human rights abuses in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, Central African Republic, Sudan and Mozambique. The group’s alleged co-founder, Dmitry Utkin, has been linked to the far right and is believed to have named the group after Hitler’s favourite composer. The US and EU have imposed sanctions on Prigozhin and Utkin for their role in Wagner.
There was no sign at the opening of Prigozhin himself.
“The creation of such a centre was a long time coming. The only thing is that it appeared really late,” said volunteer Alexey Savinsky, clad in military camouflage. “This centre had to be opened a year before the special military operation. So it’s two years behind schedule.”