Their time to face the music: 5 common Wagner PMC myths

Myth 2: “The slayers of Islamic State”

Wagner's online fans on social media and Prigozhin's portals often applaud the group’s crucial role in the victory against ISIS during the Palmyra offensive and other counter-terrorism operations, emphasizing its role in the global combat against terrorism. These events are sometimes used as a pretext for attacks on the Ministry of Defense. However, the Syrian front where Wagnerites were the most active was secondary for both Assad's troops and the jihadists.

In the early years of its activity in Syria, ISIS rarely engaged in combat with Assad's regime, mostly taking on anti-Assad insurgents and other jihadist groups. The coexistence was so peaceful that engineers of Russia’s Stroytransgaz resumed work at a Syrian natural gas facility once ISIS recaptured it from insurgents. The status quo changed in 2015, when ISIS captured Palmyra for the first time, creating a threat to Damascus from the east.

At that point, Evro Polis, a Russian company associated with Prigozhin, signed a contract with the Syrian government, undertaking to liberate and secure Syrian oil and gas infrastructure in return for a share of proceeds. The battles for oil and gas deposits marked an increase in Wagner's presence in Syria as Assad's troops and the official Russian forces were busy squashing the rebellion – the insurgents controlling a significant part of the territory, thus presenting a greater danger to the regime.

This aspect of Wagner’s “business” is known for the infamous killing of a local, who was beaten to death with a sledgehammer and beheaded at the “liberated” Shair mine in Homs. While Wagnerites never took responsibility for the murder, they made the sledgehammer their unofficial symbol and used it for summary executions later.