Wagner Group activities in Libya

In October 2018, the British tabloid The Sun cited British intelligence officials that two Russian military bases had been set up in Benghazi and Tobruk, in eastern Libya, in support of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar who leads the Libyan National Army (LNA) in that country's civil war. It was said the bases were set up under the cover of the Wagner Group and that 'dozens' of GRU agents and special forces members were acting as trainers and liaisons in the area. Russian Kalibr missiles and S-300 SAM systems were also thought to be set up in Libya.^[4][5]

The Head of the Russian contact group on intra-Libyan settlement, Lev Dengov, stated that The Sun report did not "correspond to reality", although RBK TV also confirmed the Russian military deployment to Libya.^[6][7] By early March 2019, according to a British government source, around 300 Wagner PMCs were in Benghazi supporting Haftar.^[8] At this time, the LNA was making large advances in the country's lawless south, capturing a number of towns in quick succession,^[9] including the city of Sabha^[10] and Libya's largest oil field.^[11] By 3 March, most of the south, including the border areas, was under LNA control.^[12][13][14]

Following the southern campaign, the LNA launched an offensive against the GNA-held capital of Tripoli, but the offensive stalled within two weeks on the outskirts of the city due to stiff resistance.^[15] At the end of September, following reports of GNA airstrikes killing Russian mercenaries during the month south of Tripoli,^{[16][17][18][19]} including one that reportedly left dozens dead^[20] and Wagner commander Alexander Kuznetsov injured,^[21][22] Western and Libyan officials stated that during the first week of September more than 100 Wagner PMCs arrived on the frontline to provide artillery support for Haftar's forces.^[23] Following the GNA's recapture of a village south of Tripoli from the LNA, the GNA found the abandoned belongings of one of the PMCs.^[24][25]

Subsequently, at the sites of various clashes along the frontline, GNA militiamen were recovering Russian material being left behind. By early November, the number of PMCs had grown to 200 or 300 and Wagner snipers were causing a number of casualties among GNA frontline fighters, with 30 percent of the deaths in one unit being due to the Russian snipers. On one day, nine GNA fighters were killed by sniper fire. In another incident at the frontline town of 'Aziziya, three GNA fighters were killed by snipers while assaulting a Russian-occupied school. The PMCs eventually blew a hole in the wall of a classroom and escaped as the GNA attacked the school with Turkish armored vehicles. The PMCs' snipers killed a number of competent GNA mid-level commanders along the frontline. The presence of the PMCs also leads to more precise mortar fire being directed at the GNA. The PMCs were also equipped with laser-guided howitzer shells and thus artillery fire had become more precise through laser designation from ground spotters. They were also reportedly using hollow point ammunition in contravention of rules of war. With the ground fighting in the war among the local factions being considered amateurish, it was thought that the arrival of the PMCs could have an outsized impact.^{[26][27][28][29][30]} Additionally, the PMCs introduced land mines and improvised explosive devices into the conflict, planting a number of booby traps and minefields on the outskirts of Tripoli, as well as at least in one residential neighborhood of the capital.^[31] According to Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya expert at The Netherlands Institute of International Relations, the PMCs' toughness, lethal techniques and coordination discipline instilled fear in the GNAs' forces^[32][29] as their morale suffered.^[33]

A Wagner headquarters was set up at a hospital in the town of Esbia, 50 kilometers south of Tripoli, where the PMCs were stated to have detained and shot the family of a man who had stumbled upon the contractors by mistake. Three people were killed, while the man and another family member managed to survive the execution.^[34]

At the end of October 2019, Facebook suspended accounts it said were part of a Russian disinformation campaign linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin. The campaign targeted eight African countries. At least some of the Facebook accounts came from the Wagner Group^[35] and the one operation that was attributed to Wagner was supporting two potential future political competitors in Libya. It had Egyptian page managers and the pages included Muammar Gaddafi nostalgia content. They also bolstered Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.^[36] The next month, the GNA stated that two Russians who were arrested by their forces in early July were employed by the Wagner Group.^[37] The two were arrested on suspicion of seeking to influence elections and were said to be involved in "securing a meeting" with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.^[38] Later, it was reported that the two Russians had three meetings with Gaddafi by April 2019.^[39]

In mid-November, the United States Congress was preparing bipartisan sanctions against the PMCs in Libya,^[40] whose number had risen to 1,400, according to several Western officials.^[41] The GNA, for its part, stated it documented between 600 and 800 PMCs in the country.^[42] These included 25 pilots, trainers and support crew, with the pilots flying missions in refurbished LNA Su-22 fighter-bombers.^[41]

On 20 November, an Italian military drone crashed near Tripoli,^[43] with the LNA claiming it had shot it down.^[44] The next day, a US military drone was also shot down over Tripoli,^[45] although the LNA stated it had been brought down by mistake.^[46] According to the US, the drone was shot down by Russian air defenses which were operated either by Russian PMCs or the LNA. A GNA official also stated that Russian PMCs appeared to be responsible.^[47] An estimated 25 Wagner military technicians were thought to had established transmission towers and platforms atop buildings south of Tripoli, which lead to the bringing down of the drones by jamming of control signals for the aircraft.^[29]

On 12 December, a new assault by the LNA was launched towards Tripoli,^[48][49] with the LNA making several advances.^[50][51] It was said the Russian PMCs were leading the LNA assault.^[32][33] Over a two-day period, the PMCs, who were equipped with sophisticated drone-jamming technology and artillery, launched 2,500 mortar or artillery projectiles^[33] and brought down a Turkish drone which was deployed by the GNA in an attempt to deter the LNA push. The drone was the sixth of seven deployed by Turkey in June that had been brought down by this point.^[29] In early January 2020, The Libya Observer reported the Russian Air Force had transported fighters belonging to two other Russian private military companies, Moran and Shield, from Syria to Libya to further support the LNA.^[52] Meanwhile, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the number of Wagner PMCs in Libya had reached 2,500.^[53] Later, he also accused the United Arab Emirates of providing some financing for the PMCs,^[54] while the Le Monde newspaper reported Saudi Arabia was also financing the group.^[55]

Following Turkey's and Russia's call for a ceasefire in Libya on 8 January 2020,^[56] the GNA claimed a significant number of Wagner fighters had withdrawn from the frontline via helicopters to the Al Jufra Airbase.^[57] Towards the end of February, a Wagner PMC stated for the Russian information agency InterRight that all of the PMCs had been withdrawn from Libya due to the ceasefire.^[58]

However, at the end of March, the GNA claimed to have targeted a building in the Qasr Bin Ghashir area south of Tripoli which had been occupied by Russian PMCs that had been responsible for several recent attacks on Tripoli neighborhoods.^[59] On 2 April, GNA airstrikes in two areas south of Bani Walid targeted an ammunition convoy, as well as a fuel convoy, reportedly destroying six trucks. Wagner PMCs were claimed to be in the vehicles, with one of them being killed and another wounded.^[60] On 22 April, the GNA's Interior Minister accused the Wagner Group of carrying out a chemical attack against its forces in the Salah al-Din area of southern Tripoli.^[61] According to the Minister, Wagner snipers shot dead GNA fighters who had succumbed to nerve agents.^[62]

In early May, according to a UN report, between 800 and 1,200 Wagner PMCs were deployed in Libya in support of the LNA.^[63] They were operating in specialized military tasks, including sniper teams.^[64] The UN also confirmed the presence of Syrian fighters^[65] who were transported to Libya since the start of the year via at least 33 flights operated by the Cham Wings airline. The Syrians numbered less than 2,000^[65] and were made up of former rebels recruited by the Wagner Group, under Russian military supervision, to fight alongside them.^[66][67] Mid-May, GNA artillery reportedly shelled a Wagner base^[68] that was used for observation, intelligence and organizing operations.^[69]