China refuses to supply weapons to Wagner group - FT

The founder of the Wagner Group, Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, tried to solve the problem of "shell hunger" with the help of China, but failed.

China refused to supply weapons to the Wagner group and simply ignored the request from Russia.

Source. This was reported by the Financial Times with reference to secret documents leaked from the Pentagon.

According to US intelligence, a request for weapons from the Wagner Group came to China in early 2023, shortly before Prigozhin began to publicly complain about insufficient supplies from the Russian Defense Ministry.

However, China not only did not send even test batches of weapons to Russia, but also "did not contact the Wagner PMC about possible deliveries," the document quoted by the FT says.

"Wagner, whose ranks have been joined by 40,000 prisoners from prisons and colonies across Russia, buys weapons from Belarus and Syria, US intelligence has found.

Belarusian factories, in particular, agreed to supply 300,000 VOG-17 grenade launchers and as of early January had fulfilled their obligations by at least 50%. Syria managed to buy much less – only six grenade launchers and 180 grenades to them.

Wagner expected to purchase drones, electronic warfare and counter-battery systems from Turkish manufacturers. But Turkey refused a number of items, including howitzers and air defense systems.

According to the same "leak," Wagner is trying to obtain Turkish weapons through the government of Mali, where they have been present since at least 2021 and, according to the UN, have been involved in mass killings of civilians.

The Malian authorities, according to documents analyzed by the FT, have stated that they may purchase weapons from Turkey for Wagner.

Background. As reported, Switzerland is imposing sanctions against the Wagner group.