Wagner chief questions France’s criteria for classifying his organization as ‘terrorist group’

MOSCOW

Evgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner private military company, on Wednesday, questioned the French authorities’ criteria for classifying his organization as a “terrorist group,” claiming that it acts in the interests of official governments and protects people from terrorists.

In a statement on Telegram, Prigozhin said terrorism in the dictionary is a “violent way of putting pressure on political opponents to achieve results,” noting that Daesh/ISIS, al-Qaeda, and some other internationally recognized “terrorist” organizations fit this definition while his group does not.

He stated that the Wagner group “acts in the interests of the official governments, saving people from terrorists.”

He claimed that the French parliament made its decision out of fear of the Wagner group.

When his mercenaries arrived in the Central African Republic, “French soldiers raped 12-year-old girls,” Prigozhin alleged.

“We saved an entire country called Central Africa, saved tens of thousands of lives from bandits, terrorists, and, most importantly, from the French, who simply abused them.

“Macron decided that the PMC Wagner — a terrorist organization, and at this time in many countries of the world, the Wagner PMC saves a huge number of people from the French and from the Americans,” he said.

• Evgeny Prigozhin
• Wagner Group