1/ The Wagner mercenary group has reportedly created a "Wild Company" made up of its most violent convict recruits, described as being "thugs among thugs". It follows in a tradition of Russian "Wild Companies" known for their savagery in previous conflicts. β¬οΈ
2/ Olga Romanova, head of the "Russia Behind Bars" prisoner rights group, says that the new Wild Company is based in Donetsk and is headed by Alexei Dikiy, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the 'Donetsk People's Republic'. Dikiy led DNR police units in the battle of Mariupol.
3/ It should be noted that Dikiy's surname means "wild" in Russian, so the company's name has a double meaning βΒ reflecting his leadership, like the Dirlewanger Brigade of convicts who served in the German SS in WW2, but also it reflects a Russian tradition.
4/ The "We can explain" Telegram channel notes that "detachments with similar names differed in different wars of the 20th century β they were usually formed in the Kuban and the North Caucasus."
5/ In WW1, there was a "Wild Division" of Caucasian Muslim soldiers commanded by ethnic Russian officers, which also fought in the Russian Civil War. Another Wild (or Mad) Company, pictured here, was established in the First Chechen War in 1995.
6/ In 2014, yet another Wild Company was established in Donetsk among pro-Russian separatists, led by the militia leader Mikhail "Givi" Tolstykh. He was assassinated in 2017.
7/ The "Wild Companies" have a nasty reputation. The 1995 one was known for slaughtering Chechens, while the 2014 one was involved in the torture, abuse and execution of Ukrainian POWs, some of whom were forced to eat epaulettes and chevrons while being filmed.
8/ It's likely that the Wagner Wild Company will be the same. Romanova notes that it follows prison rather than military rules: "strict hierarchy, total disobedience to secular authority." She says:
9/ "Prisoners go to war because they don't fight according to military regulations. They go there as a gang, but they are also shocked by the order in the Wild Company β it is a gang within a gang."
10/ The Wild Company reportedly flies a skull and crossbones flag similar to that flown 100 years ago by the Makhnovist movement, which fought for an anarchist state in south-eastern Ukraine between between 1918-21. The flag has been seen over Wagner burials in Krasnodar region.
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