April 12, 2023 – Russia-Ukraine news

Russian private military group Wagner has attempted to buy guns and equipment from Turkey, according to a leaked US intelligence document obtained by CNN. Turkey is a member of NATO, which is providing military support to Ukraine and publicly opposes Russia’s invasion. Wagner intended to purchase equipment that could be used by mercenaries fighting Russian forces in Ukraine, adding the group planned to use it in Mali where it maintains a presence. The US document also said Wagner intended to resume recruitment of prisoners from Russian jails.

While there is no evidence that Turkey acted on the request, US officials have said the document appears to be genuine. A State Department spokesperson said the Department of Defense and the intelligence community were evaluating the validity of the document. The news could cast doubt on Turkey’s links with other NATO members and damage relations with the US. Turkey hosts a major US military base home where nuclear weapons are stored as a potential defense. 

Russia has denied allegations that Wagner has been involved in the fighting in Ukraine, where over 15,000 people have died since 2014. Moscow has claimed the group is an independent subcontractor, however, photographs have surfaced of Wagner mercenaries in the conflict. The private military group has been deployed by Russia to other areas where Moscow has sought to increase its influence, including Libya and Syria.

In 2013, police found the dead body of founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s chef in a bullet-riddled car in St. Petersburg, leading some media to label Wagner as “Putin’s chef” because of his close ties to the Russian president. One 2016 US intelligence report described the private military company as “an overt instrument of Russian foreign policy” and Wagner was officially sanctioned by the US in 2020.



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