Putin-linked army are fighting on Libya’s front lines

Bloomberg

A private army linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun fighting on the front lines of the Libyan war, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest projection of Russian power following a decisive military intervention in Syria.
More than 100 mercenaries from the Wagner group headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, also known as “Putin’s chef” for his Kremlin catering contracts, arrived at a forward base in Libya in the first week of September to support eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar’s assault on the capital Tripoli, said the people, who included Libyan and Western officials.
All asked not to be named because they weren’t authorised to speak with the press.
A Russian mercenary commander also confirmed that Wagner contractors were fighting in Libya, and said that some had been killed in action there. Their arrival this month coincided with an escalation in airstrikes in support of Haftar, who’s pushing for decisive gains on the battlefield to strengthen his hand before an international peace conference expected next month. His forces have been bogged down at Tripoli’s outskirts since early April.
Russia is distancing itself from the struggling UN-backed administration in Tripoli and expects Haftar now to gain the upper hand after his initial failure to push into the capital, said a person close to the government in Moscow. Russian officials believe there will be a
role for ex-dictator Moammar Qaddafi’s fugitive son in any future power structure in Libya, though not as leader of the country, the person said.
An official with Haftar’s Libyan National Army said no Russian or other foreign fighters were within its ranks. Prigozhin didn’t answer emailed questions. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they have no information regarding mercenaries in Libya.
Prigozhin has become a key player in Russia’s increasingly expansive foreign policy. Last month, Bloomberg reported that his mercenaries in Syria are readying an assault on rebel-held Idlib to end that country’s eight-year-long civil war.
In the Central African Republic, his contractors are propping up a government that doesn’t control most of the country; elsewhere in Africa, his operatives are offering security, arms training and electioneering services. In the US, a company owned by Prigozhin was
indicted on charges of bankrolling Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
In Libya, his men join an already crowded battlefield. Libya’s Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha told Libya Al-Ahrar TV that Haftar’s forces had first employed Sudanese soldiers, “and after they failed they relied on the Wagner company.”
In Libya, home to the largest oil reserves in Africa, Russia has supported Haftar while also lobbying for a political role for Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, the son of the late Kremlin-friendly dictator. In May, two Russian citizens connected to Prigozhin were arrested on charges of seeking to influence possible future elections in Libya, and were alleged to have been involved in organising meetings with Saif al-Islam and his representatives.
Libyan officials said evidence collected also shows the two Russians had plans to interfere in vote campaigns elsewhere in Africa. They are still being held.
Prigozhin’s mercenaries were first sent to Haftar’s forward Jufra base before deploying around Tripoli’s outskirts, the Western diplomats said.