The private military company (PMC) Wagner has once again made international headlines with the arrival of around 1,000 of its employees on battlefields in #Ukraine. For its supposed owner Evgeny #Prigozhin, this is a return to a familiar environment: his companies began their disinformation activities in Ukraine during the #Maidan #revolution. However, the #PMC is no longer limited to making war or business: it is also involved in a broader strategy of branding #Russia in the eyes of foreign, as well as domestic public opinion. This new activity is not so surprising if we recall that Prigozhin himself specializes in Russia’s image abroad and can therefore offer #Wagner many of his contacts in the worlds of public relations and #showbusiness.
While Russian soft power has been probably irreparably destroyed in the West by the invasion of Ukraine, Wagner's recent film productions, all dated 2019-2021, have not necessarily been rendered outdated by the #war in Ukraine. On the contrary, they continue to speak to European circles that admire #survivalism, mercenaries, and non-Asian martial arts, as well as to the #GlobalSouth. They illustrate how the codes of #popculture have been adopted to enhance and justify the #Putin regime’s political objectives and, in particular, to heroize mercenary activity, the “subliminal” message being that Russian heroes fight for the good of all humanity and will inevitably be victorious.
https://russiapost.net/politics/wagnerverse #lybia #CAR #mozambique #donbass #mali #afghanistan #syrien #media
