Even more than Russia’s official defence forces, the Wagner Group’s private army of Russian mercenaries is synonymous with extreme brutality and mass butchery – but with demonstrably greater military effectiveness.

Over decades, Wagner’s owner, Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, has been passionately loyal to Vladimir Putin in a self-re-enforcing relationship of violence and corruption dedicated to achieving Russia’s broader interests in military conflicts, first in Crimea and the Donbas, then spreading to the Middle East and Africa.