Wagner Group goes mainstream as infamous Russian mercenaries gain corporate logo and skyscraper HQ
The Kremlin’s mercenary Wagner Group has given itself a corporate makeover, ditching its skull and sniper crosshairs logo for an anodyne "W" and setting up headquarters in a plush skyscraper in St Petersburg.
The rebrand is part of Wagner’s remarkable shift from a shady Kremlin asset deployed to do Vladimir Putin’s dirty work in Africa and Syria to a mainstream militia that plays a crucial role in the Ukraine war.
At the office’s opening on the outskirts of St Petersburg on Friday, stocky men in sharp dark suits stood around in a spotless white foyer giving journalists interviews as Russian fighters in combat uniforms watched on.
Reporters were shown around the 23-storey glass and steel building, which had “PMC Wagner Group” and a new W logo emblazoned on the revolving glass door and reception desk. Wagner's previous logo was a grinning skull framed by the crosshairs of a sniper rifle.
Military drones were on display at the entrance and flat-screen TVs played clips set to music, including one showcasing Wagner’s battle victories in the Donbas and another with a woman singing about the glories of mercenary groups to hundreds of cheering men.
On its new website, Wagner Group says that companies involved in strengthening the Russian defence sector will be able to rent office space in the building. "We break stereotypes. We know how to be the best," it says.
The rebrand appears designed to cement the position of its financier, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in the Kremlin’s elite.
Mr Prigozhin, who wasn’t at the opening of the new office block, is known as “Putin’s chef” and once served a prison sentence. He has clashed with Russia’s ministry of defence and also with regional governors who he feels have previously scorned him.
But Wagner is credited with bolstering the Russian army with thousands of mercenaries, often battle-tough from tours in Syria, Libya and Mali, where they have been accused of various war crimes.
The opposition Russian news website Meduza.io said that Putin considers Wagner to have been a success in Ukraine after it secured victories in the eastern Donbas region and that Mr Prigozhin was now part of his “inner circle”.
“He isn’t just an errand boy charged with some unpleasant tasks. Prigozhin is considered an effective war manager, and a liberator of [Ukrainian region] Luhansk,” a Kremlin source told the website.
“The role of Wagner Group has evolved significantly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” added the British ministry of defence.
