Wagner Group goes mainstream as infamous Russian mercenaries gain corporate logo and skyscraper HQ

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

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.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/wagner-group-goes-mainstream-as-infamous-russian-mercenaries-gain-corporate-logo-and-skyscraper-hq/ar-AA13Mcvr

They're still second rate. They had their collective asses kicked when they tried to mess with our boys in Syria.

[Lovie777]

1. Sick ain't it .......

[smb]

2. Skyscraper?

Shouldn't they have a creepy old Transylvanian castle or skull-shaped mountain in the jungle or something?

[2naSalit]

5. +1

[patphil]

3. Are they planning to go international, as another Blackwater?

[Eugene]

7. They already are. They fought in Syria. They are actively plundering Africa.

They clashed with US forces in 2014 at the Battle of Khasham, losing hundreds to US airstrikes.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khasham

[The Unmitigated Gall]

4. "You will never find..."

“A more wretched hive of scum and villainy…”

[captain queeg]

6. The SS has the reputation of being badasses

They weren’t technically part of the army and when the war started their training in strictly military tactics was lacking. The first time they faced allied heavy tanks they broke and ran. Can’t remember if it was the French Char B or the British Matilda. Both were mostly immune to standard German anti tank weapons. It took a year or so for them to reach the abilities of the regular army.

But they were enthusiastic and always willing to do the Nazi dirty work with special divisions assigned to “security” and ethnic cleansing. Wagner Group sounds similar.