[Annotated] How "Wagner" came to Syria

Captured soldiers cast light on the work of^[각주:1] a shadowy group^[각주:2]

"I am Roamn Sergeyevich Zabolotny, born in 1979, and I have been taken prisoner^[각주:3]," says a Russian-speaking man in a video released last month by the jihadists of Islamic State (IS). A second soldier, his right eye swollen shut^[각주:4], sits silently in grey robes. Both were reportedly captured^[각주:5] during a battle near Deir ez-Zor, a city in Syria's east and the site of a recent offensive by Russian and Syrian government forces^[각주:6]. Yet the Russian defence ministry^[각주:7] denied that any of its soldiers had gone missing^[각주:8]. Friends and relatives told Russian media that the men had gone to Syria not with the Russian army, but as part of a shadowy mercenary force known as^[각주:9] "Wagner".

The group has come to play a key role in^[각주:10] Russian operations in Syria. Though Russian law officially bans private military companies (PMCs)^[각주:11], a St Petersburg-based^[각주:12] independent news site^[각주:13], Fontanka.ru, reported in late 2015 that ex-soldiers^[각주:14] were being recruited to serve in Wagner^[각주:15] by a former special-forces^[각주:16] officer, Dmitry Utkin. Numbering as many as^[각주:17] 2,500 men, the group is believed to have figured heavily in^[각주:18] operations around Palmyra in 2016, serving as "shock troops^[각주:19]" alongside the Syrian army, says Mark Galeotti, an expert on^[각주:20] Russian security at the Institute of International Relations in Prague. Though the Russian army has not acknowledged Wagner's existence, Mr Utkin was photographed^[각주:21] late last year alongside President Vladimir Putin at a Kremlin^[각주:22] reception for^[각주:23] military officers in honor of^[각주:24] Day of Heroes of the Fatherland. This summer America added him to its list of officials sanctioned for^[각주:25] involvement in^[각주:26] the Ukraine conflict of 2014, where the group is said to have got its start.

When Russia launched^[각주:27] its intervention in^[각주:28] Syria in September 2015, the government spoke of^[각주:29] a short air operation^[각주:30]. Boots on the ground were^[각주:31] seen as taboo, especially to a population still haunted by memories of^[각주:32] the costly Soviet war in Afghanistan. (Nearly half the population would now like to see the Syrian operation wrapped up^[각주:33].) But having a nominally^[각주:34] independent cadre of^[각주:35] fighters to deploy as ground forces gives the Russian army plausible deniability^[각주:36]. "They serve to solve a concrete problem^[각주:37]: have no casualties^[각주:38]," says Alexander Golts, a military analyst. Officially Russia's armed forces have in fact reported some 41 deaths in Syria, including a general killed in shelling near^[각주:39] Deir ez-Zor in September while commanding Syria's Fifth Corps of volunteers. However, investigative journalists and bloggers reckon scores more Wagner-linked mercenaries have died in combat. On the ground, the force functions as^[각주:40] a "pseudo-private^[각주:41]" military company, taking direction from the Russian army, says Alexander Khramchikhin, deputy director of^[각주:42] the Institute for Political and Military Analysis. 

The model was first tested in the war in eastern Ukraine, where a patchwork of^[각주:43] forces operated with differing degrees of^[각주:44] distance from the Russian government. Alongside local separatists^[각주:45] and regular Russian army units were groups of Russian volunteers and mercenaries, among them Mr Utkin and an early iteration of^[각주:46] the Wagner force. "The rumors are that they fought, and fought well," says one former senior separatist commander, with a sly smile^[각주:47]. As fighting slowed in 2015, mercenaries and volunteers returned hoe or sought employment elsewhere^[각주:48]. It is no secret that many of them have since left for Syria, says another former separatist leader. 

The emergence of^[각주:49] such groups revived talk in^[각주:50] Russia of legalizing^[각주:51] Russian PMCs to create companies in the vein of^[각주:52] American security contractors^[각주:53] such as Academi (formerly called^[각주:54] Blackwater). Mr Putin expressed tentative support for^[각주:55] that idea back in 2011, calling it "a way of implementing national interests^[각주:56] without the direct involvement of^[각주:57] the state". In late 2014 Gennady Nosovko, a lawmaker with^[각주:58] the Just Russia party, submitted a bill that^[각주:59] would have laid the legal groundwork^[각주:60], only to see Russia's powerful Security Council^[각주:61] snuff it out^[각주:62]. Resistance was also strong from within the military and security services, which worried about losing their monopoly of violence^[각주:63]. Other specialists, Mr Nosovko says, worried that powerful businessmen would ultimately^[각주:64] seek to control^[각주:65] their own private armies, with dreadful^[각주:66] implications^[각주:67]. 

For now^[각주:68], the Wagnerians still operate in a grey zone. Fontanka.ru recently reported that their role has expanded to include seizing^[각주:69] oil wells^[각주:70] held by IS for a newly-formed Russian company, Evro Polis. As for the two captives^[각주:71], their fates are probably sealed^[각주:72], says an MP from the home region of one of them. "There's a 99% chance that Roman and the second prisoner are no longer among the living^[각주:73]."

1. cast[shed, throw] light on ; (문제 등에 대해) 해결의 실마리를 던져 주다[이해를 돕는 사실을 보여주다] [본문으로]
2. shadowy ; 3. [주로 명사 앞에 씀] 잘 알려져 있지 않은 [본문으로]
3. take prisoner ; 포로로 잡다 [본문으로]
4. swollen ; 1. (몸의 일부가) 부어오른 [본문으로]
5. reportedly ; [부사] 전하는 바에 따르면, 소문에 의하면 [본문으로]
6. government forces ; 정부군 [본문으로]
7. defence ministry ; 국방부 [본문으로]
8. go missing ; 행방 불명이 되다 [본문으로]
9. mercenary ; [명사] pl. -ies 용병 ;; 미국식 [|mɜ:rsəneri] 영국식 [|mɜ:sənəri] [본문으로]
10. play a key[center] role ; 핵심적인 역할을 하다 [본문으로]
11. private military company ; (경제) 민간군사기업(民間軍事企業) [본문으로]
12. -based ; ((연결형)) 「근거가 있는; …에 기지[기반]를 둔」의 뜻 [본문으로]
13. site ; 3. (컴퓨터) (인터넷) 사이트 ;; 참고 ; mirror site, website [본문으로]
14. ex soldier ; 재향군인, 군인 출신 [본문으로]
15. serve in ; ~에 복무하다 [본문으로]
16. special-forces ; (미군) 특수 부대 [본문으로]
17. number ; 2. MAKE STH AS TOTAL | [V-N] (합한 수가) 모두[총] …이 되다 ;; 3. INCLUDE | ~ (sb/sth) among sth (격식) (특정 집단에) 들어가다[넣다] ;; 참고 ; day [본문으로]
18. figure in ; …에 관련이 있다; …에 참가하다; [극·소설 따위]에 등장하다 [본문으로]
19. shock troop ; [명사] (~s) (특별 훈련을 받은) 기습[돌격] 부대, 특공대. ;; 동의어 ; assault forces; commando. [본문으로]
20. an expert on ; …의 전문가. [본문으로]
21. photograph ; 1. …의 사진을 찍다 [본문으로]
22. Kremlin ; 1-a. [the ~]크렘린 궁전 ((Moscow에 있는 옛날 궁전)) ;; 1-b. [the ~]구소련 정부 ;; 2. [k~] 성채(城砦) ((러시아 도시의)) [본문으로]
23. reception ; 2. [C] 리셉션, 환영[축하] 연회 [본문으로]
24. in honor of ; …에게 경의를 표하여; …을 기념하여; …을 축하하여 [본문으로]
25. sanction ; [vn] 1. (격식) 허가[승인/인가]하다 ;; 2. (전문 용어) 처벌하다; 제재를 가하다 [본문으로]
26. involvement ; 1. [U] ~ (in/with sth) 관련, 관여, 개입, 연루 [본문으로]
27. launch ; [vn] 1. (특히 조직적인 일을[에]) 시작[개시/착수]하다 [본문으로]
28. intervention ; 2. (타국의 내정 등에 대한) 개입, (내정) 간섭; [완곡] 무력 간섭 [본문으로]
29. speak of ; …에 대해 말하다. [본문으로]
30. air operation ; 항공작전 : 지상부대나 해군부대와 협조하여 수행하는 공군작전. [본문으로]
31. boots on the ground ; Military phrase meaning troops in place. Slang usage is when you are referring to going somewhere or being somewhere or someplace. [본문으로]
32. haunt ; 2. (특히 불쾌한 생각이) 뇌리에서 떠나지 않다[계속 떠오르다] ;; 3. (오랫동안) 계속 문제가 되다[괴롭히다] [본문으로]
33. wrap up ; (합의·회의 등을) 마무리짓다 [본문으로]
34. nominally ; 1. 명목[명의]상; [문장 전체를 수식하여] 명목상은 [본문으로]
35. cadre ; (격식) 1. [C+sing./pl. v.] 간부단, 핵심 그룹 ;; 2. [C] 간부단의 일원 [본문으로]
36. plausible deniability ; (politics) The organization of clandestine activity in such a way that knowledge of its existence may be denied by those in authority. [본문으로]
37. concrete ; 2. 사실에 의거한, 구체적인 ;; 참고 abstract ( 1 ) ;; 3. 실체가 있는 [본문으로]
38. casualties ; (군사) 사상자 [본문으로]
39. shelling ; [U] 포격 ;; 미국∙영국 [|ʃelɪŋ] [본문으로]
40. function as ; ~역할을 하다[~로도 쓰이다], …로서의 기능을 하다. [본문으로]
41. pseud(o) ; [접두사] 「가짜의」, 「가의」, 「의사의」, 「사이비」의 뜻. ;; 미국식 [|su:doʊ] 영국식 [|su:dəʊ;|sju:-] [본문으로]
42. deputy director ; [명사] (협회 따위의) 부회장 (cf. deputy 부(副)의) [본문으로]
43. patchwork ; 2. [sing.] (쪽모이처럼) 여러 조각[부분]들로 이뤄진 것 [본문으로]
44. differing ; 상이한, 다른 [본문으로]
45. separatist ; [명사] 분리주의자 [본문으로]
46. iteration ; 1. [U , C] (계산・컴퓨터 처리 절차의) 반복 [본문으로]
47. sly ; 1. (못마땅함) 교활한, 음흉한 ;; 2. [주로 명사 앞에 씀] (남들은 모르는 비밀을 자기는) 다 알고 있다는 듯한 ;; 미국∙영국 [slaɪ] [본문으로]
48. employment ; 1. [U , C] 직장; (개인의) 고용 [본문으로]
49. emergence ; 1. 출현, 발생 ((of, from)) [본문으로]
50. revive ; 2. [타동사][VN] (다시 사용되거나 행해지도록) 부활시키다 [본문으로]
51. legalize ; [타동사][VN] 합법화하다 [본문으로]
52. vein ; 6. [sing., U] 방식, 태도 [본문으로]
53. contractor ; [명사] 계약자, 도급업자 ;; 미국·영국 [kən|trӕktə(r)] [본문으로]
54. formerly ; [부사] 이전에, 예전에 [본문으로]
55. tentative ; 1. (처리・합의 등이) 잠정적인 [본문으로]
56. national interest ; 국익 [본문으로]
57. direct involvement ; 직접적인 관련, (군사) 직접개입 [본문으로]
58. lawmaker ; [명사] 입법자 [본문으로]
59. submit a bill ; 법안을 제출하다 [본문으로]
60. lay the legal groundwork ; 법적인 토대를 마련하다 [본문으로]
61. Security Council ; 안전 보장 이사회 [본문으로]
62. snuff out ; ~을 완전히 끝내다[파괴하다] [본문으로]
63. a monopoly of ; …의 독점. [본문으로]
64. ultimately ; 2. 근본[본질]적으로 [본문으로]
65. seek to do ; ~하도록 시도, 추구하다 [본문으로]
66. dreadful ; (특히 英) 1. 끔찍한, 지독한 [본문으로]
67. implications ; [명사] (예상되는) 결과, 영향 [본문으로]
68. for now ; 1. 우선은, 현재로는, 당분간은 [본문으로]
69. seize ; 2. ~ sth (from sb) (흔히 폭력을 써서) 장악하다, 점령하다 [본문으로]
70. oil wells ; [명사] 유전 [본문으로]
71. captive ; [명사] 포로 [본문으로]
72. seal ; 4. MAKE STH DEFINITE | 확정짓다, 다짐하다 [본문으로]
73. be among the living ; 흐름상 "살아있다, 생존하다" 정도의 의미 [본문으로]