About
From 2014 forward, the Wagner Group left a trail of destruction in its wake, looting and pillaging, attacking civilians, illegally detaining individuals, torturing and summarily executing prisoners and wounded combatants, targeting protected objects in violation of international law.
UN fact-finding bodies have linked the Wagner Group to war crimes and crimes against humanity in at least six countries, including the use of sexual violence. Governments around the world have also sanctioned individuals and entities affiliated with the criminal cartel that financed and facilitated the paramilitary’s operations. To enhance accountability efforts, we have deployed our unique blend of open source investigation and data science methods to unearth insights into the network that powered Russia’s shadow army that no single approach could achieve alone.
Leveraging qualitative and quantitative analysis, we have:
Mapped the full command structure of Wagner at different points in time, documenting its growth and evolution from 2014 forward.
Compiled comprehensive dossiers on high-level Wagner commanders, Russian military officials, state curators and intermediary facilitators, providing granular detail on their backgrounds, networks, and locations.
Uncovered the hidden “back office” networks that ran Prigozhin’s Wagner Group through network analysis.
Decoded Prigozhin’s personal calendar, revealing frequent meetings with high-level Russian government officials.
Created a publicly accessible archive of Wagner Group linked social media accounts.
About Future Frontlines
A program of New America, Future Frontlines uses open source investigative tools, data mining techniques, and journalistic methods to explore how the digital revolution is reshaping global conflict, competition and influence. From satellite imagery to flight and shipping data to social media platforms, we connect the dots and ferret out facts that might otherwise be hidden or even purposely obscured for strategic reasons. Explaining complex dynamics is our passion. Using data that is publicly accessible, our aim is to discern connections, patterns and trends that explain how competition for attention and influence in cyberspace plays out online and in the real world.
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