John Lechner (@JohnLechner1) / X

John Lechner

6,451 posts

John Lechner

@JohnLechner1

Writer and reader. “Death Is Our Business” out with Bloomsbury. rep @EditorSig

Washington, DC

johnlechnerauthor.com

Joined October 2012

Pinned
John Lechner
@JohnLechner1
Mar 4, 2025
DEATH IS OUR BUSINESS launches today! Grounded in my five years working in CAR, Mali, Libya, Ukraine, and Syria. Featuring interviews with 40 #Wagner mercenaries, executives, and affiliates. Pick it up wherever books are sold! amazon.com/Death-Our-Busi…
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John Lechner
@JohnLechner1
Jul 27, 2024
It appears that #Wagner has suffered one of, if not its largest loss, in Africa to date, in northern Mali near the Algerian border. A few things to consider before folks go nuts with extrapolation: 1. Such losses pale in comparison to those tolerated in Ukraine and Syria (1/n)
Rob Lee
@RALee85
Jul 27, 2024
Several Russian Telegram channels are saying that the admin of the Grey Zone channel, one of the most prominent Wagner channels, was killed today. t.me/milinfolive/12… t.me/RVvoenkor/73402 t.me/rosgvardia67/4… t.me/dshrg2/2107
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John Lechner
@JohnLechner1
Dec 6, 2024
Quick thread on how events in Syria affect Russian operations in Africa. First, Syria is the key logistics hub for military supplies, rotations etc. If Russia cannot keep its bases in Syria, what could replace them? (1/n)
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John Lechner
@JohnLechner1
Oct 12, 2024
March 2025. DM me if interested in doing a review!
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John Lechner
@JohnLechner1
Apr 22, 2022
Indigenous languages of the Caucasus: 1. Learning Georgian 2. Learning Chechen 3. Learning Avar 4. Learning Adyghe (Circassian)
John Lechner
@JohnLechner1
Aug 26, 2022
A mini thread on what "don" means in #Chechen. First, it is a filler word, used by Chechens but perhaps not as liberally as Kadyrov... so what does it mean? (1/n)
Francis Scarr
@francis_scarr
Aug 26, 2022
Ramzan Kadyrov offers us his latest take on Ukraine: "I would've taken Kyiv long ago, don. Zelensky and those like him would be in a basement, don, already being interrogated, don, like in Mariupol" "You should thank, don, Putin for not permitting us, don, to take Kyiv, don"
John Lechner
@JohnLechner1
Aug 8, 2023
For @ForeignPolicy, Marat Gabidullin - a former #Wagner commander - and I write "Wagner's a reflection of the system Putin built. The same opportunities and challenges that created Wagner will constrain the state’s willingness and capacity to replace it."
Why the Wagner Group Won’t Leave Africa
From foreignpolicy.com
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John Lechner
@JohnLechner1
Nov 2, 2019
Replying to @JeremyDBoreing
Ha try reading some female writers. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is probably the best Victorian novel, creating the foundation for all science fiction books and movies (even Jurassic Park). Virginia Woolf created the modern novel and is better than any Franzen book you probs read
John Lechner
@JohnLechner1
Jun 24, 2023
I've been waiting a few months to say this, but now seems as good a time as any... Excited to announce that I am writing a book on #Wagner and #Prigozhin with @BloomsburyPub!
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John Lechner
@JohnLechner1
Jul 27, 2024
Replying to @JohnLechner1
Russian military planners are well aware of the difficulties facing them in Mali and the Wagner label has been retained to hedge for precisely these types of scenarios. Any failure in Mali remains a PMC, not an MoD failure... (3/n)
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John Lechner
@JohnLechner1
Jul 27, 2024
Replying to @JohnLechner1
3. And with regards to failure, Western analysts still underestimate the political importance and symbolic victory of Wagner / FAMa taking Kidal in the eyes of Bamako... we are not yet in the realm of failure
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John Lechner
@JohnLechner1
Jul 27, 2024
Replying to @JohnLechner1
2. We have not seen a transition from Prigozhin structures to official Africa Corps structures (at the ground level) in Mali because military planners want to to hedge for precisely these types of events. (2/n)
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John Lechner
@JohnLechner1
Sep 5, 2022
Inside the Bloody Business of Turkey’s Syrian Mercenaries | In my latest with S. Asher for @TheNatlInterest, we spoke with Syrian mercenaries still in #Libya, and recruiters back home, on the corruption endemic to #Turkey's mercenary program nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-ea…
John Lechner
@JohnLechner1
Dec 6, 2024
Replying to @JohnLechner1
The next stop after Syria is Libya. As Russian sources note, theoretically Russian cargo planes can make it from Russia to Libya - but empty. Planes carrying military equipment etc. cannot, which means supplying Africa through Libya becomes very expensive and unsustainable (2/n)
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