London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Russian mercenary force Wagner opens first official headquarters

Russian mercenary force Wagner opens first official headquarters

The European Union has accused the Wagner Group of serious human rights abuses in Ukraine, Africa, Syria, and Libya.

Russia’s previously secretive Wagner Group, a private mercenary force, has opened its first official headquarters in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg.

The group, controlled by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, opened its shiny, glass-fronted multistorey building – topped with a large white “Wagner” sign – on Friday.

The opening of the “Wagner Centre” is seen as another step by Prigozhin to publicise his military credentials and take a more public role in shaping Russia’s defence policy.

Wagner’s public-facing headquarters follows recent steps by Prigozhin to bolster his public profile, compared with the years when the Russian businessman spent operating his military force in the shadows.

Prigozhin has made a series of outspoken interventions about Russia’s setbacks in its war in Ukraine, joining Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in ridiculing the performance of Moscow’s generals.

He had long denied being behind Wagner, whose contract soldiers are supporting Russia’s army in Ukraine and have operated in Africa, Syria, and Libya.

Prigozhin last month publicly confirmed for the first time that he was the founder of Wagner.

The European Union has accused the Wagner Group, whose members are mostly former service personnel, of human rights abuses and said they have carried out clandestine operations on Moscow’s behalf. The United States and EU have sanctioned Prigozhin over his role in the group.

In 2021, the EU said the Wagner Group was responsible for abuses, including torture and extrajudicial killings, in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, Sudan and Mozambique.




“The mission of the PMC Wagner Center is to provide a comfortable environment for generating new ideas to improve Russia’s defence capability,” Prigozhin said in a statement for Friday’s launch.

There were no signs at the opening of Prigozhin himself, who is sometimes dubbed “Putin’s Chef” for his sprawling catering businesses that have swept up government contracts.

The opening of the large steel and glass office building was attended on Friday by a mix of veterans in military uniforms and young tech and cultural professionals, with lectures from nationalist and pro-Kremlin figures saying the Wagner headquarters would help “make our great country even better”.

An interior view of the PMC Wagner Centre, a project implemented by businessman and founder of the Wagner private military group Yevgeny Prigozhin, during the official opening of the office block in Saint Petersburg, Russia, November 4, 2022


People in camouflage clothing wandered the grey corridors of the building looking at an exhibit on military drones. A truck emblazoned with the “Z” symbol used by Russian forces in Ukraine, was parked outside.

“We are inviting start-ups 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.

“We are of course interested in projects that can act as import substitution,” she said.

Western sanctions on Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine have made it harder for Russia to buy foreign weapons technology.

“The creation of such a centre was a long time coming. The only thing is that it appeared really late,” said Wagner 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 the schedule,” he said, using Russia’s official term for its Ukraine invasion.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×