Russia-Ukraine War: Most of the prisoner fighters who fought in the ranks of the armed militia of the “Wagner group” were killed or fled after the battle against the Ukrainian army near the city of Solder. The military force, led by Yevgeny Prigozhinclose to President Putin, recruited during the war about 43,000 prisoners from prisons in Russia, when most of them were killed, escaped or surrendered during the fighting, it was reported last night in the “Newsweek” weekly.
It was also reported that the “Meduza” website reported that the number of prisoners recruited by the militia had probably increased to 50,000, given the state of the Russian army on the battlefield. According to the site, Prigozhin does not keep statistics on missing persons or defectors, and instead reports them as soon-to-be-dead. Last Friday it was even reported that a resident of Russia received a message that her husband had died on the battlefield and received an empty coffin, although it is not known what happened to him at the time.
The woman also said that her husband was drafted last fall, and recently she received a phone call from an official in the Wagner group who informed her that her husband was killed in the area of the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine. According to her, “They said there was no need to open the closet and emphasized that it was 100% him.” According to her, after the burial ceremony that took place for her husband, she discovered that he was still alive and fighting in Ukraine, and that he was fighting for the “Wagner” group.
As you may remember, during the recent move in the city of Solder, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that the army had defeated the Ukrainian forces and that the “brave paratroopers” had liberated the town. However, the Telegraph newspaper reported last Saturday on the Kremlin’s “humiliating” U-turn, when it issued a new update and the Ministry of Defense stated that the “Wagner” mercenary group was the one that captured the city.
Fresh recruits to the Russian army (Photo: Reuters)The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed last night that the army captured the town of Solder, after the withdrawal of the Ukrainian forces. After the official announcement, one of the owners of the “Wagner” group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, quickly contradicted it and said that “no Russian paratroopers were involved in the occupation of the city.” The revised message issued by the Russian Ministry of Defense states that “the mission in the town was successfully implemented by courageous actions of the Wagner Group operatives.”
The public debate between the Russian army and the “Wagner” group threatened to undermine Russia’s first significant victory since it announced the occupation of Luhansk region last July. It also highlights the power and influence of the mercenary group, which is backed by the Kremlin but operates completely separately from the Russian military. Earlier this year, the Kremlin approved the recruitment of prisoners to bolster Wagner’s power, but the group’s operatives appear to be acting solely on Prigozhin’s orders.