Filenews 22 July 2023
The private Russian military organization Wagner Group, which is currently in the news, may have already spread tentacles in Cyprus. At least, that's what appears to emerge from a study by the nonprofit organization New America.
An 86-page study, published in 2019 but resurfaced due to the latest developments, attempted to decode the Wagner group and its associated private companies. In fact, the role of Private Military Security Contractors is analyzed. These are military organizations with mercenaries, which have reportedly undertaken several special missions internationally so far.
The survey, which was conducted with the support of Arizona State University, specifically refers to RusCorp, a subsidiary of which is registered with the Cyprus Registrar of Companies. An important role in the interface game is played by Alexei Eduardovich Danilyants. It is indicative, in fact, that the report refers to our island at least five times.
The interconnection of Wagner with Cyprus is not obvious, as in the 86-page study that was carried out, reference is made to a network of companies, before we reach the "Cypriot" RusCorp. What all these business entities have in common, however, according to the U.S. investigation, is to serve the Kremlin's goals and objectives.
Wagner is currently in the Western media for its action on the side of Russian forces, which have invaded Ukraine since February 2022. Lately, it became a big issue when the unit's leader and former close associate of Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, took on the leadership of the Russian military.
In footage that caused international sensation, the well-known former "chef" of Putin and the Kremlin appeared to speak harshly against the leaders of the Russian invasion, because Wagner was left without supplies and suffered many casualties.
When it comes to Wagner's connection to RusCorp in particular, Vadim Gussev seems to be key. He is a mercenary who, according to the study, is related to both military organizations, which allegedly share a common origin. It is noted, inter alia: "{...} He was later arrested in Russia on charges of violating laws prohibiting mercenary activity after a disastrous showdown in Palmyra, Syria, in the fall of 2013, which exposed his ties to the Wagner group. He is pictured in a desert camouflage and wearing a T-shirt with the RusCorp logo on the sleeve."
RusCorp Group Limited was originally registered in Moscow in 2006. Alexei Eduardovich Daniljans is identified in the study as a leading corporate executive at RusCorp, which appears to have subsidiaries in the UK and Cyprus.
Specifically, according to our own investigation in the register of the Cyprus Registrar of Companies, Daniliants presents himself as an official in at least two Cypriot companies: Ruscorp Group Limited and Ruscorp Limited.
