The Russian paramilitary group Wagner, which operates in Ukraine and Africa, signed a contract with a Chinese company last year to buy two surveillance satellites and order images, giving the group increased information-gathering capabilities, France Presse reported Thursday. Yes, Yevgeny Prigozhin had photos of the way to Moscow during the June Uprising.

“Tell me who in this country has reconnaissance satellites besides Wagner?” – boasted in April the former leader of the group Yevgeny Prigozhin, who in the meantime died in the crash of his plane, criticizing the limited space capabilities of the army of the Russian regular forces. in the midst of the Wagner group’s assault on the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

France Presse claims that it was able to obtain this contract as a result of a long journalistic investigation. According to a European security source, the news agency added, some of the satellite images helped Prigozhin prepare the June uprising against Moscow, raising doubts about the information China had about these plans for Prigozhin.

According to the commercial contract drawn up in English and Russian and signed on November 15, 2022, Beijing Yunze Technology Co. Ltd sold to Nika-Frut, one of Prigozhin’s companies, two high-resolution satellites manufactured by the Chinese space company Chang Guang Satellite Technology (CGST) in exchange for about $31 million.

The contract also provides for on-demand images taken by the CGST group of satellites, so the Wagner group receives field information from the areas where it operates.

The same unspecified source also claims that at the end of May, Prigozhin’s people ordered from a Chinese company about 80 images from Russian territory, from the Ukrainian border to Moscow, that is, the route taken by Wagner’s militants during the uprising against the Russian military leadership. , which ended with the mediation of the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, and became the most serious challenge to the authority of Russian President Vladimir Putin since he came to power.

Wagner group contract, valid

The existence of this contract became known after the leak of information, writes France Presse, believing that this could be an explanation for the fact that the American special services knew about the preparation of the mutiny by Wagner, which was reported by CNN in June. .

After the death of Prigozhin and his main commanders, including Dmytro Utkin, Wagner’s group is now being rebuilt. But a significant part of its operations abroad continues, its fighters also return to the front in Ukraine.

According to a source cited by France Presse, the satellite contract is valid and being implemented. According to the document, upon request by the customer, “the provider will orient the satellites” according to the requested images, which will be transmitted to the ground station for processing and delivery, and “the customer will download the image data from the cloud.” and be able to store them for seven days.

An American space researcher claims that Wagner turned to China for spy satellites because the Russian military’s satellites would not be effective. However, in the war against Ukraine, Russia manages to detect and hit targets deep inside Ukrainian territory with missiles and drones.

In February this year, Chinese companies Beijing Yunze Technology Co. Ltd and Head Aerospace Technology — the latter of which processes satellite imagery — were hit by US sanctions for “significant contributions” to supporting the Russian military in Ukraine and “engaging in activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests.” (Agerpress)

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