By Al-Fassel | 2023-11-06

The Russian mercenary Wagner Group may provide a Russian-made missile defense system to the Iran-backed Lebanese Hizbullah militia, US intelligence sources say.

Wagner, which operates in Syria, has been tasked with delivering the surface-to-air SA-22 missile system, which uses anti-aircraft missiles and air-defense guns to intercept aircraft.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) previously reported November 2 that the system has yet been sent, but that the US is monitoring discussions involving Wagner and Hizbullah and the potential delivery is a major concern.

Russia originally provided the system for use by Syrian government forces, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has sanctioned the transfer to Hizbullah, CNN reported, citing two people familiar with the intelligence.

Wagner activities

Wagner mercenaries first deployed to Ukraine in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea. In subsequent years, they have been involved in conflicts around the world, including in Syria, Mozambique, Sudan, Venezuela, Libya, the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad and Mali.

In most cases Wagner has usurped or undermined local security forces, and the mercenaries are accused of human rights abuses and war crimes wherever they are deployed.

The Wagner Group entered Syria when Russian forces intervened in the war there in late September 2015 on the side of the Syrian regime.

The mercenary group was contracted to carry out security operations inside Syria and engage in military battle on the frontlines with opposition factions and the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS).

Despite the group's ostensible role as "ISIS hunters," however, it became increasingly clear the mercenaries were in Syria primarily to defend Russia's economic interests -- specifically phosphate fields and oil and gas wells.

Following an attempted mutiny against Moscow in June led by Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin flew to Syria, where he informed the regime that Wagner Group forces would no longer operate there independently.

Prigozhin died in a plane crash in August, exactly two months after his botched mutiny.

Currently Wagner is headquartered in Belarus, to which it was moved following the mutiny against Russian President Vladimir Putin.