DIA is a life-threatening…’Putin’s Chef’ that made any country a battlefield

The Central African Republic (CAR) is a country in the middle of the African continent. The capital is Bangui.

The Il-76, a Russian transport plane, arrived at Bangui Airport in late December of last year. Reportedly, about 10 military trucks and 2 armored vehicles were unloaded from the transport. All 300 people who arrived with the equipment were armed in military uniforms.

Information on armored vehicles came out later. The Kamaz-53949 Typhoon-L was a Russian mine protection vehicle (MRAP). It can run up to 105 km/h with 2 crew members and 8 fully armed troops. It can attack with a 14.5mm heavy machine gun, and it is also good for mines and IED explosions.

It is the latest weapon that the Russian Army has been deploying in earnest since 2018. However, the equipment and armed forces witnessed at Bangui Airport are not belonging to the Russian Federation Forces. It was the equipment and mercenary of the Russian private military enterprise (PMC) called the Wagner group. PMC is a mercenary dispatch company.

On December 19 last year in CAR, which was ahead of the presidential and general elections, a coup scheme by former President François Bozije was discovered. Three African peacekeepers who were in charge of monitoring elections were murdered. Then CAR President Postang-Archamps Tuadera turned to Russian President Vladimir Putin for help.

The Bagner Group has been in CAR since 2017. This time, he increased his troops and equipment. The Bagner Group is providing support to CAR for security, security advisory and military training. They also jump directly into actual battles. In return, he obtained 7 diamond, gold mine, and mineral mining rights from CAR.

According to the US Congressional Research Service (CRS), the Bagner Group operates in CAR, Libya, Sudan, and Mozambique, starting from Ukraine in Europe, then Syria in the Middle East. African countries such as Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania have also requested military assistance from Russia. These countries are expected to be the next customers of the Bagner Group.

CNN called the Bagner group’Putin’s private soldier’. Yevgeny Prigozin, the actual owner of the Bagner Group, is a close close to Putin. When he was in his 20s, he started as a street hot dog business and made a lot of money through the catering business.

Prigojin did nothing for President Putin. During the 2014 Ukraine crisis, he was on the side of the pro-Russian rebels. During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, a comment unit was used to covertly support President Donald Trump. So I got the nickname’Putin’s Chef (Chef)’.

The Bagner Group is a leader in the Hybrid Warfare advocated by Russia.

Combined warfare is’a war like war, not war like war’. It is a war that combines regular warfare, irregular warfare, and cyber warfare. Not only the state, but also rebels, militias, terrorist groups, and criminal corps are the players of this war. If the state does not come to the front and adjusts from the back, it will be difficult for the other party to respond, and there is an advantage that it can take advantage of the national interest.

Russia used mixed warfare well during the Ukraine crisis in 2014. At that time, the Crimean peninsula was forcibly annexed and pro-Russian separatist rebels were encouraged. Active Russian soldiers or spies joined the rebels. They launched a cyber attack against Ukraine and conducted psychological warfare.

In February 2013, Russia’s Chief of Staff Valery Gerashmov, in a paper entitled’The Value of Science is Prediction’, defined complex warfare in this way.

At the same time, he boasted about the combined battle.

The Russian government denies its association with the Bagner Group. However, it is an open fact that the Bagner Group is fully supported by the Russian military and intelligence agencies.

In 2016, President Putin gave medals to mercenaries from the Wagner group who died in Ukraine and Syria.

Bagner’s training center is located in Molkino, 200 km east of Moscow. However, this training center is being used with the 10th Special Mission Brigade. The 10th Brigade is a special force under the command of the General Intelligence Service of the Russian Army General Staff (Joint Chief). This unit was better known as Spetsnaz, the Russian abbreviation for’special mission force’.

May last year US Army African Command (AFRICOM)Announced that Russia had deployed at least 14 fighters, including MiG-29 and Su-35, in Libya, a state of civil war. These fighters left Russia and moved to Libya after clearing the roundel (nationality mark) in Syria to hide their nationality. It was dispatched to support the Bagner Group. The back ship of the Bagner group is the proof that the Russian government is.

China is actively trying to grow PMC. Kim Jin-yong, chairman of the International Counter-Terrorism Mercenary Association, said, “The Chinese government is very interested in fostering a private security company (PSC) as a PMC. The government is investing a lot,” he said.

China is dreaming of a one-to-one road (BRI), a global economy centered on China. So they are investing all over the world. Already, a large number of Chinese are working abroad.

In 2004, 11 Chinese construction workers were killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Since then, there have been a series of overseas Chinese murders. Then, the Chinese government enacted the Security Service Management Ordinance in 2009 to legalize the PSC.

China has step by step the ability to project armed forces abroad. If you want to, you can send troops to Asia and Africa. However, if you mobilize the military frequently, you are denying yourself’non-interference’, a diplomatic principle that China always advocates. Therefore, they are trying to put up a private company instead of the military to protect Chinese people abroad.

As of 2018, 4,000 PSCs in China employ 4.3 million people. Most of them are Chinese People’s Liberation Army or armed police evacuees. As of 2016, about 3,200 people from 20 PSCs are in charge of security work abroad. Chairman Kim Jin-yong said, “The Chinese government is also looking at PSC in terms of providing jobs for military and police backgrounds.”

It is predicted that the deeper China immerses in the world, the more’side damage’ it will see. Suicide bombings and shootings in Pakistan in 2018 resulted in Chinese casualties. Pakistan’s Balochistan Liberation Army was the work of a separatist group. They accused China of being an’oppressor’.

There is one person behind the Chinese PMC’s promotion policy. This is Eric Prince, who was the CEO of Blackwater, a PMC in the United States. Blackwater, which has been popular since the Iraq War, caused the death of an unarmed civilian. Those involved in this case were punished, and the company changed its name to Academy. Prince has created a PSC called Frontier Services Group (FSG) in Hong Kong and is consulting with the Chinese government.

FSG announced that it will establish a training base in Xinjiang Province in 2019. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was a’no comment’. However, all PSCs in China are under the strong control of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.

China’s PSC is less experienced compared to the US and European PMCs. However, it has excellent price competitiveness. There is also a report that the cost of hiring 12 Chinese PSC bodyguards is the same as the cost of one US and UK PMC bodyguard.

If so, should Korea consider Russia’s PMC and China’s PSC as work for a distant country?

Yang-wook, an adjunct professor at Hannam University’s Defense Strategy Graduate School, who had a history of running a PMC called IntelEdge, said, “The PMC of Russia and the PSC of China are quasi-state organizations that pursue national interests rather than private interests.” They are actively using Sudan, and China will try to imitate Russia.”

Prof. Yang Wook suggested, “If China uses PSC to dominate the export market, it would not be good for Korea.” “Korea needs to actively participate in establishing an international order to regulate PMC and PSC.”

Reporters Cheoljae Lee and Yonghan Park [email protected]