When Wagner fighters were advancing towards Moscow in an attempted rebellion in late June, authorities in Syria and Russian military leaders there were taking a series of swift measures against the private military group's operatives to prevent the rebellion from spreading, according to six sources familiar with the situation. The sources reported that the previously unreported crackdown involved cutting off telephone communication lines, summoning around ten Wagner leaders to a Russian military base, and ordering group fighters to sign new contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense or leave Syria immediately. Among the sources revealing these events were Syrian security officials, sources based near Russian forces in Syria, and regional officials. The sources requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of military information. The Syrian government, the Russian Ministry of Defense, and Wagner in Russia did not respond to requests for comment.
These actions illustrate how rapidly Syrian authorities moved to control the fighters, driven by fear that Moscow, Syria's main military partner, could have its focus diverted amid the events unfolding in Russia, according to two Syrian sources familiar with the operations. Nawar Shaban, a researcher at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies, stated, "Wagner's role in Syria, which it used to play, is over. After those events, their relationship with the Syrian Ministry of Defense ended." Senior officials in Syrian intelligence and the military expressed concern as they monitored the events over the potential impact of the rebellion on the Russian military presence that they have relied on for a long time, according to a high-ranking officer in the Syrian Republican Guard and a Syrian source familiar with developments.
The two Syrian sources clarified that the number of Wagner fighters in Syria is relatively small, ranging between 250 and 450 individuals, or about one-tenth of the Russian military force believed to be in Syria. There are no official figures for these forces, and the numbers fluctuate over time. Following Prigozhin's announcement of his movement, a group of Russian military officers was swiftly sent to Syria to help control Wagner forces there, according to a regional military source close to Damascus and two Syrian sources familiar with the events.
