Investigation: Russia Enlisted Wagner Group Members to Guard Shadow Fleet Tankers

Russia enlisted mercenaries from private military companies, including the Wagner Group, to escort and guard shadow fleet tankers.

This is detailed in an international investigation involving 13 publications, including the Dossier center.

The mercenaries were aboard the ships, posing as security guards; some of them had directly participated in the war against Ukraine.

Journalists gained access to crew lists for over two thousand ships subject to US and EU sanctions, as well as those included in the list maintained by Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence.

The data covers the period from January 2023 to mid-April 2026 and includes information on nearly 16,000 voyages. The documents revealed 83 individuals without maritime documents, diplomas, or verified qualifications.

These individuals are mentioned 306 times in the crew lists of 65 tankers. In 32 cases, their position was listed as “security guard.” According to investigators, these are in fact mercenaries.

The identities of some of them were established using leaked personal data and internal documents from the Wagner Group. At least 28 individuals had previously served in private military companies, primarily in the Wagner PMC, as well as in RSB-Group, Moran Security Group, and Redut.

Four were linked to the African Corps, which took over part of the Wagner PMC’s operations in Africa following its dissolution. Most of the identified individuals also had experience serving in Russian security agencies, including the FSB and the army, particularly in the GRU special forces.

Among them, investigators mention Dmitry Savitsky, who, under the call sign Odesit, fought against Ukraine starting in 2014, later served in Syria as part of the Wagner group, and after the start of the full-scale invasion, participated in the assaults on Bakhmut.

According to journalists, the mercenaries controlled the crews and were tasked with ensuring the delivery of Russian oil to buyers even in the event of attempts to obstruct the tankers’ movement.

It is noted that starting in the spring of 2025, Russian mercenaries regularly escorted the vessels of the shadow fleet. At the same time, after January 2026, their services were no longer used on the tankers. This may be related to cost-cutting measures.

As a reminder, earlier Militarnyi reported on the identification of 17 individuals (former mercenaries and special services employees) on shadow fleet vessels transporting Russian oil.